Artist Biography
Chet Kane started playing the trombone in 6th grade in a public middle school band at the age of 12 years old. He continued playing trombone for another 15 years, playing in a wide variety of venues including marching band, orchestras, live theatre bands, solo performances, jazz orchestras and jazz quintets.
In 1979, Chet moved to Seattle to climb mountains and play music. His musical interests expanded to playing electric bass in rock trios, the first in the early 1980s with the Seattle-based band, The Botticelli’s with his friends Rick DeMarco, singer/songwriter/guitarist, and Scott Rongey, singer/songwriter/drummer.
The Botticelli’s wrote and played original songs and recorded in a home recording studio using cassette tape. The Botticelli’s played live many times at art openings, clubs, and did some busking at the Pike Street Market.
Chet eventually got involved with Seattle’s Belltown music scene in the mid 1980s to early 1990s, playing bass with folk-country-punk rock poet Gary Heffern who had moved from San Diego to start a new life in Seattle.
Gary Heffern and The Cunninghams played in Seattle clubs during the up-and-coming Grunge music scene and opened for many bands that reached the tippy-top of the music industry in the late 1980s and into the 1990s.
Gary Heffern and The Cunninghams were included in the Grunge album Lowlife and the self-produced CD called 1985-1986.
During the 1980’s and 1990’s Seattle Grunge scene, Glitterhouse Records, based in Beverungen, Germany, was the European distributor of recordings on the American label Sub Pop based in Seattle, Washington.
Starting in 1994, Glitterhouse shifted away from distributing other record companies’ recordings and directly contracted with alternative rock and various American singer/songwriters, including many from Seattle.
Chet Kane signed a record contract with Glitterhouse in 1994 to record and release his debut solo album Tears for Columbia that enjoyed wide success in Europe.
The songs on Tears for Columbia draw their inspiration from the surrounding environment; the landscape and natural beauty that is abundant in the Pacific Northwest, juxtaposed with modern urban settings, as evidenced by the lyrical contribution to the album’s title track by Chet’s brother, poet Paul Kane.
Chet’s songs were also included in two Glitterhouse compilation albums Speed of The Sound of Loneliness and Silos and Utility Sheds in 1995.
After contributing bass parts for Gary Heffern in the early 2000s and continuing to write and record songs, fast forward to 2021. Chet released his follow-up album HOME.
The most recent Chet Kane recording in 2024 is the single, The Starlight Serenade, released by Chet Kane’s record label Tetrahedron Records.
The Starlight Serenade comes from Chet’s solo climbing journey in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area in the North Cascade mountains of Washington State. The song features Chet Kane on vocals and guitar, Walter Singleman on bass, Jeff Fielder on guitar, Scott Rongey drums, and Tekla Waterfield on background vocals.
What’s Next
Chet has decided that now its time to blend all of the musical experience and interest with fresh new writing approach. New songs will be available in 2026, and for now it’s a wide open adventure!
All of Chet Kane’s records and songs are available on Spotify and other streaming services.
