“A unique, personal music that lights up the stage with its joy and enthusiasm.” Mason Jennings

Portland OR — Identical twins Laurie Shook (vocals, banjo, percussion and beatboxing) and Katelyn Shook (vocals, guitar and mandolin), are two thirds of the quirky folk trio, Shook Twins. Rounding out the trio, often referred to as the “third twin,” is Kyle Volkman on bass. The Shook Twins intertwine gorgeous “twin” harmonies with an eclectic and eccentric blend of folk, roots, pop and fun. Jeff Rosenberg of the Willamette Weekly says, “Their songs are witty and well-built, the performances poised, the production adventurous. Recently transplanted to Portland, Shook Twins are the most exciting local folk act I've heard in ages. Strike that word "local" and the sentiment still stands.”

Originally from Sandpoint Idaho, the twins have been making music together since childhood. Playful, warm and lighthearted, a Shook Twins show percolates with the twin’s infectious radiant energy. Pristine vocals layered on top of traditional stringed folk instruments, create lovely aural imagery of two women with one sound.
But don’t be fooled. The Shook Twins are not your average folk trio. They have a few tricks up their sleeves. Laurie may drop a beat-box in the middle of a song, while Katelyn plays the guitar, glockenspiel, mandolin, and sings into a telephone and bocks like a chicken. Laurie plays wah-wah Banjo and loops various melodies and beats to make it sound like more than just two identical twin sisters. Meanwhile Kyle lays down the groove adding resonant bass lines to the mix. It’s a refreshing romp filled with unexpected surprises.

This past year the Shook Twins have been touring behind their sophomore CD Window released in April 2011, taking them throughout much of the Northwest. Along the way, The Shook Twins have shared the stage with artists including Ryan Adams, Mason Jennings, Laura Veirs, Carolina Chocolate Drops, The Fruit Bats, Michelle Shocked, JJ Gray and MoFro, Crooked Still, Jason Webley, The Head and The Heart and many more.

"I feel that his works make the viewer want to be part of them," Kelly Warner says describing the work of Joseph Cornell, the withdrawn, New York City assemblage artist whose work inspired the name of Warner's music project, Hotel Eden. "Cornell was able to create elegant, compelling microcosms out of found pieces arranged in small shadowboxes, luring you in and inviting you to explore their tiny classrooms, galaxies or snowy forests he set in motion with bits of wire, paper and cork." It is no wonder that Kelly was drawn to this art, considering his own past: "back in college when my friends were out partying, I was in a basement apartment gluing bits of borrowed drums and synths and voices and strings together to create what I hoped would become magical little wonderlands of sound." And now with years of musical exploration under his belt, the producer/songwriter has honed his craft to be able to support the creative swell of songwriting that has produced a collection of poetic, genre-hopping songs that are due out in 2012.

As a one-man production team, Kelly writes, sings, plays and records his irreverent pop songs with a mix of vintage instruments and new technology in his home studio. With a background of well-worn white label electronica releases, this DJ/beatmaker/multi-instrumentalist was also one half of the visionary but now historic hip hop duo, The Lab Rats. Kelly and his Lab Rats band-mate were loved in part for replacing samples with original music that included beats, self-samples and live instrumentation. Song craft, live performance, recording, studio production and stylistic experimentation were just a few of the lessons Kelly learned in the lab. Moving through phases as any artist does, he takes from the past, but now more fully realizes live instrumentation in production and uses his own songwriting inspiration to create Cornell-like havens of beauty, chaos and solace.

In 2012 Kelly will release a full length album and tour for the first time with a full, live band in support. Although the recordings were created by Warner, Hotel Eden will no longer be just his project as his crack squad of complete badasses are warmed up, have adopted the songs as their own and are ready to bring you a show.