Pete Keating Releases Louder, an Alt-Country Single Written After Meeting a Guitarist with MS
Pete Keating Releases Louder, an Alt-Country Single Written After Meeting a Guitarist with MS
Tracked Live at London Bridge Studios, the First of Three Singles with The Renslow Trestle
Louder is out now from Pete Keating and The Renslow Trestle, released on 3 July 2026. It is alt-country for listeners who like their Americana played by a full band in one room. The acoustic guitar and lead vocal were tracked together, live, at London Bridge Studios in Seattle.
Pete Keating’s Louder sits in our country and Americana playlist below, and his full coverage history is on the Pete Keating profile. The single came to this desk through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news desks. Press play, then read on for where the run goes next.
Before Louder, Pete Keating Spent Years in Pacific Northwest Bands and Small Washington Rooms
Pete Keating is a multi-instrumentalist who has spent most of his life in Washington State, and everything he performs is original material. Before The Renslow Trestle, he played across the Pacific Northwest on his own and in several groups. Those include The Dandelion Greens, Wild Man Cooley, The Blue Hole Iguanas, Wild Horses and Coyote Band.
The live circuit is local and steady. This summer alone took in The Top and the Thirsty Crab in Clinton and The Keg and I in Chimacum. It also included WICA in Langley and the Tumbleweed Music Festival in Richland, and the calendar ran on into October at Honey Moon Mead and Cider in Bellingham. The band has also opened for the touring act Carl and Wes at Kelly’s Olympian in Portland, Oregon.
The Renslow Trestle is the latest of those groups, and it is a big one. Music Earshot describes it as musicians who had already been crossing paths in each other’s projects for years. Jacob Brown plays piano and organ, Harrison Keating plays upright bass, Trevor Olohan plays drums and Gavin Olohan plays electric guitar. Meanwhile, Debbie Cantwell, Marita Schott and Baylor Burbidge sing harmony, and Cantwell also plays viola.
Louder, Tracked Live at London Bridge Studios Two Days After a Chance Meeting
The song started with a meeting. Keating wrote it two days after meeting an older guitarist living with Multiple Sclerosis, as Indie Dock Music tells it. The guitarist had been told he would never play again, and he refused to accept it. Louder turns that refusal into a plain instruction: keep going at full strength as life gets heavier.
The recording follows the same idea. Producer and engineer Eric Lilavois tracked the acoustic guitar and lead vocal live, at the same time, instead of layering them later. So the phrasing on the record is the phrasing Keating sang in the room. The room carries history, too. London Bridge Studios is where Mother Love Bone, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam made records that shaped the Seattle sound.
The band fills in around that core. Jacob Brown’s keys give the track its warmth, and the three harmony voices turn one person’s resolve into a group’s. As a result, fans of late-1960s Laurel Canyon country rock will hear where it comes from.
Keating’s own list of influences runs from Etta James to Jeff Lynne, and both are useful guides here. Etta James sang with a conviction that never needed volume to land. Jeff Lynne, with ELO and later the Traveling Wilburys, wrote choruses for a whole room to sing back. Louder takes something from each: a lead vocal that leans into the line, and a chorus with three voices behind it.
What Comes After Louder for Pete Keating, From Two New Singles to a Tacoma Ballroom in January
Louder turned out to be the first step of a run. Tenderly followed on 7 August as a two-track single with Louder as its second track. Akt Music reported that Keating timed it to land on his wedding anniversary. Then Perfect arrived on 9 October, carrying both earlier songs as its second and third tracks.
All three singles came out on Pete Keating Music, distributed by Venice Music. They also sit beside a physical record. The Stray Curls EP was recorded at London Bridge Studios in January 2026, with Eric Lilavois producing and engineering. It is sold as a download on Bandcamp and as a CD. Apricot Magazine covered Tenderly and pointed its readers to the EP as well.
So the release pattern is clear. Each new single carries the earlier songs with it, which gives a new listener the whole run in one place.
Where to Hear Pete Keating and The Renslow Trestle Before the Spanish Ballroom Show
The next dates are close to home. Bailey’s Corner Store in Clinton is booked for 7 November, and Real Art Tacoma follows on 8 November. The bigger date comes on 2 January 2027, when the band plays The Spanish Ballroom in Tacoma.
MusicDrops.News’s curator team: “Louder lets its rhythm section do the quiet work. Upright bass and drums keep the floor level for close to six minutes, so the voices on top can grow without the song ever rushing.”
For a first listen, start with Louder. Then play Tenderly and Perfect in release order to hear the run build.
Stream Louder on Spotify or Apple Music, then hear Tenderly on Spotify and Perfect on Spotify. Follow Pete Keating on Spotify, Apple Music and SoundCloud. Keep up with new songs and dates on the YouTube channel, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.
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