David J. Keyes

American bassist, vocalist and guitarist, born 1955 in Peoria, Illinois and died at age 64 on July 9, 2019. While living in Illinois, Keyes played with artists including Chops, The Burnetts, Central Illinois Jazz Society, Jhaptal, Jimmy Binkley and Ed Kaizer. He then moved to New Jersey, where he performed with Bucky & John Pizzarelli, Killer Joe, The Kevin Osbourne Band, Rick Oberson, Early Warning and others. Keyes toured the world as bassist/vocalist/guitar for Willy DeVille and the Mink DeVille Band from 1992 to 2006. He continued to assist in writing Willy's last two studio records after his cancer diagnosis in 2007. He earned a Gold Record Award with the Mink DeVille Band for his performance on the 1993 album Willy DeVille Live. Keyes also toured internationally and recorded with symphonic rock band Renaissance and its lead singer Annie Haslam from 1990 to 2014. His other work included playing upright bass, dobro and co-producing a record w/ singer/songwriter Titus Wolfe and performing Americana/roots music as BluesFolk with his wife Marilyn Shellenbaum. The pair moved to Florida in the last year of his life.