KEEL, STEELER, RON KEEL BAND And Others To Perform At KEELFEST 2

Keelfest 2, featuring headliners KEEL, RON KEEL BAND and a tribute to/reunion of 1980s metal band STEELER, is set to take place March 18 in Nashville as the Saturday night afterparty concert for the 2023 ROCKNPOD expo.

The event will take place at Bowie's, Nashville's premiere downtown venue for national hard rock shows, and will also include performances by THE FIFTH (featuring vocalist Roy Cathey from COLD SWEAT) and new Las Vegas-based rock band CRASHING WAYWARD.

The common thread on this bill is, of course, frontman Ron Keel, who created the concept to celebrate 40 years of music with the fans and friends who made it all possible. The first Keelfest took place in Columbus in 2019, with the intention of establishing it as an annual event, but the pandemic made that impossible — until now.

"Keelfest is a way to get my entire musical family under one roof, onto one stage, give the fans some special music and moments, while giving myself the ultimate challenge as a frontman and vocalist," Keel explains. At the 2019 Keelfest, Ron plowed through nearly 40 songs with RON KEEL BAND, STEELER and KEEL for well over three hours without any break in the action.

Keelfest 2 is presented by RFK Media, the 2023 ROCKNPOD expo, and KRFK Radio. ROCKNPOD is Nashville's ultimate annual rock and roll convention, which brings together fans, artists, podcasters, radio broadcasters, vendors, and other members of the music community for a weekend celebrating rock and roll. Tickets can be found on the web sites rocknpod.com and keelfest.com. There is a combo ticket discount available to attend both the convention and the concert. All Access members at Keel's Patreon can receive an additional discount on their admission.

Since announcing its reunion in 2008, classic 1980s band KEEL (Ron, Marc Ferrari, Bryan Jay, Dwain Miller, Geno Arce) has performed on multiple Monsters Of Rock cruise events, twice at M3, the Frontiers Festival in Milan, Italy and other festivals across Europe and the USA.

Ron's primary musical vehicle for the past eight years has been RON KEEL BAND, which scored a Top 40 hit in 2022 with its latest single, "When This Is Over". In addition to headlining fairs, festivals, and major biker events (including an annual residency at the Full Throttle Saloon during the Sturgis Rally),RON KEEL BAND has toured with/opened for TESLA, NIGHT RANGER, CINDERELLA's Tom Keifer, WINGER, MOLLY HATCHET, JACKYL and others.

Keelfest would not be complete without celebrating the 40th anniversary of the historic "Steeler" album. Nashville was the birthplace of this iconic American metal band in 1981, and bassist Rik Fox and Ron Keel will be joined again on stage by guitarist Mitch Perry (who replaced Yngwie Malmsteen in the band in 1983) and drummer Dwain Miller. The set will feature classics from that acclaimed 1983 album as well as the live premiere of the new STEELER single "Give Me Guitars (Or Give Me Death)".

The March 18 show will also serve as the Nashville debut for two rising rock bands signed to Ron Keel's RFK Media label. THE FIFTH and CRASHING WAYWARD (which includes former L.A. GUNS guitarist Stacey David Blades) will both have new albums coming out on RFK Media next year, as well as songs on the RFK compilation album "Live The Rock", to be released in conjunction with Keelfest 2.

"These bands are both major national acts waiting to happen," Ron says, "and Keelfest is a great opportunity to showcase them to the fans and music industry. They'll be tough acts for me to follow, but I'll be ready to give it all I've got."