A lifelong bassist and composer who creatively blends his love of art with technology. Michael is equally comfortable on stage or in the studio amid most styles of music. He prefers the collaborative work of songwriting and arranging within a group setting. Michael plays fretted and fretless electric bass, upright bass and analogue synths.

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Biography

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Michael Patrick Kerr is a professional bassist and acoustics/audio engineer who creatively blends his love of art with technology. Michael is equally comfortable on stage or in the studio amid most styles of music. He prefers the collaborative work of songwriting and arranging within a group setting. Michael plays fretted and fretless electric bass, upright bass and keyboards.

From an early age growing up in a small town near Baltimore, Michael always had a deep interest in music, studying both violin and trumpet from the age of nine. At the age of fourteen he picked up the bass, driven by the excitement he felt listening to the likes of Geddy Lee, John Paul Jones and Chris Squire. His high school career was filled with bass playing; participating in the jazz band, orchestra, symphonic wind ensemble and numerous theatrical presentations and talent shows, in addition to his gigging original rock group -Trilogy. Trilogy evolved into Last Chance and continued to play the Baltimore/Washington rock circuit, long before its members were of legal drinking age.

Two years at a local community college offered the beginnings of a very intense music and engineering education. Michael participated in all the school had to offer musically: orchestra, jazz ensemble, music theatre, music theory and private instruction in string bass, bass guitar and piano. A highlight at the community college was an extended run of the musical Hair that played to packed houses and rave reviews.

Years of dedicated practice lead to a successful audition at the University of Miami. At Miami, Michael continued studies in jazz, rock, theory and performance and even participated in a jazz choral group (yikes!). Michael returned to Maryland to finish up a degree in Audio Engineering at the University of Maryland and pursued graduate work at The American University where he became immersed in the recording arts, electronic music and analog sound synthesis. Through these years, Michael was the bassist with The Michael Kelly Group which toured the Mid Atlantic playing original acoustic folk rock and Doom Cookie an alternative rock three piece.

In this period Michael also toured the mid-Atlantic with Color Factory, the electric version of Michael Kelly's project in a completely original rock format. In 1996 Michael did a six month stint on the Chicago Blues Circuit with The Good Earth Band.

Michael then landed a position with the world's largest string manufacturer - D'Addario Strings in New York. Working with prominent artists on the musician's advisory board, Michael developed new technologies for musical instrument strings and Evans Drumheads. Continuing his training on bass he studied at the Bass Collective with renowned bassist, John Patitucci. While in New York, Michael performed with the rock group Color Zone and then formed Blind Curve. Their first release under Trilogy Records scored Finalists - Sennheiser Evolution Band Contest for the World's Fair -Germany -2001; was nominated Best Unsigned Band (Hard Rock Category) in the -1999/2000 Just Plain Notes, USA- CD Review Competition; Finalists - 1999 Long Island Music Festival.

Back home in Maryland, Michael teamed up again with Last Chance/Doom Cookie drummer Will Berry (currently with the Baltimore institution Circle Nine) for a female fronted power trio - Duku which played local festivals and the mid-Atlantic scene.

In 2001 Michael then joined The Bridge - a Pittsburgh Based classic rock band for frequent shows in the Western PA/MD area. In this period Michael recorded constantly with the experimental/improvisational band UNIUS, also based in Pittsburgh.

In 2003, Michael joined NAKED SOUL based in Oakland, California and performed throughout the Northern CA circuit.

Michael is currently living in DC and working on his own project The Art Rock Ensemble's, reforming the group with new players and crafting the first studio album.