KIT WATKINS (Keyboards)

American Kit Watkins was born and raised in Virginia, part of a musical family. His father has taught music at James Madison University since 1947. His mother teaches piano, and his sister is a classical pianist. Kit began playing at age 5, taught mainly by his mother, but bailed out of instruction around 14 because by then, rock and roll had infiltrated. He apprenticed in the usual teen-bands-that-do-covers, started at university in maths, but dropped out to make more room for music. He was introduced to British progressive bands by a friend who'd toured with a group in Germany. Kit formed Happy The Man, which made two LPs of all-original material for Arista. He was offered a place in CAMEL on the strength of those recordings and the timing was right because Happy The Man no longer was. He tired of classical music due to overexposure. "I didn't know much about it except how to play it." He is keen on twentieth-century composers Ravel and Stravinsky, and ECM-label jazz. "I'll listen to anything." In addition to Hammond organ, Rhodes Opiano, Arp string ensemble, Hohner clavinet and mini-moog, he plays flute.

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