Slickee Boys guitarist tuneful day gig

Marshall Keith, tuning a $39,000 restored Steinway Grand piano, at Kramer's Piano Store, in New Midway, Md. (WTOP/Neal Augenstein)
Marshall Keith uses electronic tuners, hand tools, and "good listening" to tune pianos. (WTOP/Neal Augenstein)
Far from the bombast of a Slickee Boys concert, Keith says piano tuning is "sort of a meditative thing." (WTOP/Neal Augenstein)
Marshall Keith (far right) played lead guitar in popular Slickee Boys. (Courtesy TwinTone Records)
Marshall Keith (far right) during reunion show at 930 Club. (Facebook)
Marshall Keith in early-1980s lineup of Slickee Boys. (Facebook(far right)
(1/6)

Neal Augenstein, wtop.com

NEW MIDWAY, Md. – The lead guitarist for one of the Washington area’s most popular and enduring bands got sick and tired of sweating the rent.

Marshall Keith, co-founded The Slickee Boys in the mid-1970s. The Slickees blend of punk, garage, and psychedelia made them legend in the region, and popular around the world.

Still, they had to pay the bills.

Keith found a unique way to do it — tuning pianos.

After years of working a variety of part-time jobs — including construction and jewelry making — to supplement his efforts with the Slickees, Keith says, “I got to be in my mid-30s and I had an ‘uh-oh’ moment.”

“Every month when rent would come up, it was ‘how am I gonna make rent this month,'” Keith says.

“I got really tired of that,” he says, sitting in front of a $39,000 restored Steinway Grand, at Kramer’s Piano Store, located in Frederick County farm country.

Using an electronic tuner, thin padded inserts to dampen the sound of piano strings, and “relative, not perfect pitch,” Keith tunes pianos for bands, as well as in churches, homes, and the shop.

He learned the trade from his then-girlfriend, now-wife’s father, in an apprenticeship.

Far from the raucous, costumed energy of a Slickee Boys performance, Keith enjoys working alone.

“It’s actually pretty relaxing. Sort of a meditative kind of thing,” Keith says.

Keith says he’d taken on the role of tuning the band’s guitars over the years, “Because I knew how to do it.”

“Tuning a piano, with all these strings, it’s like tuning 35 guitars,” says Keith.

He estimates it takes an hour to tune a piano, which often has more than 200 strings.

The Slickee Boys, whose “When I Go To The Beach” video placed second in MTV’s Basement Tapes competition in 1983, stopped playing regularly in 1991, but played reunion shows yearly until recently.

“We finally decided to call it quits last year,” says Keith.

“With me it became a big struggle, ” Keith says now.

Keith has traded time spent with the Slickees for time spent with his family.

And, he doesn’t have to worry about making rent.

Follow WTOP on Twitter.

(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up