The Artist

Humphrey-McKeown

Heather and Tom came on CAU as a duo back in the summer of 2006 on Episode 554

This week they were back with the entire band to support their latest release "Tapestry of Shadows". As you can see and hear, we had a marvolous time recording this show. Now you can go see them perform it live at Durty Nellie's in Palatine, IL

The Humphrey-McKeown songwriting partnership began in 2006 between New York native, Heather Humphrey and Chicago-based, Tom McKeown. At an informal gathering of musicians Tom asked if anyone had interest in writing music. That day Heather said “yes” and two weeks later their collaborative partnership was formed and they were ready to see where this adventure would lead them. Before long, they were writing for publishers in Nashville, Chicago and LA. Combining Heather’s innate sense of melody with Tom’s pursuit of writing something that hadn’t already been done before, Humphrey-McKeown wrote for any occasion and in any style; always seeking to better themselves and their craft. When asked “How do you write better songs?” Their answer has always been “That’s easy…we write another song”. After penning over 100 songs for others, Humphrey-McKeown changed course to focus solely on their own unique musical voice. From their first open mic in December 2010 through the release of four studio albums in less than three years, Humphrey-McKeown has had a vision of what their writing and singing together could be. Creating the perfect vehicle to bring their songs to an audience proved to be a task that took years to complete. Drummer Jim Livas has brought the big drum sound to HM since the very first show but finding the rest of the musical puzzle pieces proved more elusive. They held auditions and swapped remaining players as needed, always looking for the perfect fit. Finally, during the last recording sessions of what has become the group’s fourth album, Jim remembered a truly amazing bassist from his past. That led HM to Tony Meadors and incredibly, his audition actually became one of the final tracks on the fourth CD “All I Wanted to Hear.”