“To the success of our hopeless mission!”
Tommy Douglas Keenan sings songs of heartache and longing, tempered by humour and sweetness. One cannot live in the great city of Winnipeg without a deep sense of irony and a taste for disappointment; TDK uses these survival skills to write about the beauty of missed connections and lost causes. With his lyric-driven, space-folk sound, He follows in the footsteps of Paul Simon, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Kurt Vile, and Wilco.
His latest single, Oh Melody (Friday, 28 Feb 2025), is a woozily romantic late-night stroll in a strange city. Co-produced by TDK and Matt Peters (of Royal Canoe and Begonia), it features ethereal guitar, soaring synth, and the gorgeous guest vocals of Natalie Bohrn (of Slow Spirit).
This release is the latest in a series of singles over the last couple of years, since he took on the TDK moniker. His first album, Romantic Fitness (released under the obscure pseudonym “Tom Keenan”) came out in 2010. It’s a scrappy little guy that you could probably beat up, but you might leave with your nose bitten off. No, actually it’s pretty sweet, for the most part: just don’t get it drunk.
As a solo artist, he has toured across the country by bus, train, plane, and Corolla, sharing stages with the likes of Wax Mannequin and John K. Samson.
TDK and Matt Peters have a side project called Heavy Bell. In 2018 they released the chamber pop album By Grand Central Station, based on Elizabeth Smart’s cult classic poetic novel, By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept. They arranged the fourteen songs for strings, brass, winds, piano, guitar, drums, and voices. Heavy Bell toured with an eight-piece ensemble across Canada, and adapted the work into a dance-theatre piece in 2019. Yes, very fancy.
TDK’s day job is acting. As Tom Keenan, he has performed in over fifty professional stage productions and over twenty-five film/tv roles, ranging from Shakespeare to Snow White to sitcoms.
Oh Melody is the first of several releases TDK has slated for 2025. An album looms large.
