Chris Ketley[1] (born 29 January 1985) is a British, London-based multi-instrumentalist, musical director, arranger, composer and producer.

Chris Ketley
Chris Ketley performing live in 2017
Chris Ketley performing live in 2017
Background information
Born (1985-01-29) 29 January 1985 (age 39)
Occupation(s)Musician, arranger, musical director, composer, producer
Instrument(s)Guitar, piano, bass
Websitechrisketley.co.uk

He is most well known for being a pop session musician playing guitar and piano for multi-platinum selling British artist Ellie Goulding[2] and has previously worked with a variety of bands and artists such as Bryan Ferry, Zendaya, Banks, The Rakes, Dua Lipa, Markus Feehily (Westlife), Martin Luke Brown, Betsy, DJ Fresh, Christophe Willem, Conor Maynard, Rumer and The X-Factor Australia, The Moons & The on Offs.

He has made TV appearances with CeeLo Green, Katherine Jenkins, Cher, Gary Barlow, Alfie Bow, Barry Manilow, Donny Osmond and LeAnn Rimes.

In addition to his live experience, Chris composes and produces music for placement on advertising campaigns, TV, short films and other bespoke media. His clients have included The BBC, 20th Century Fox, Biscuit Filmworks (Noam Murro), Pantene, Universal Music and Grey London.

Some of his live career highlights include a headline show at Madison Square Garden, The Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival, Saturday Night Live, Jools Holland, Coachella Festival and a headline show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Early career

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His career started in his late teens playing for UK bands such as The on Offs[3] whilst touring the UK & Europe. By the age of 21 he was touring the world with UK post punk band The Rakes.[4] By his mid-twenties Chris was playing with Ellie Goulding on some of the world's biggest stages, TV shows and open-air festivals the music industry has to offer.

Bryan Ferry at the Hollywood Bowl

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Chris composed orchestral arrangements for Bryan Ferry's headline show at the Hollywood Bowl on 26 August 2017. The full orchestra was conducted by Thomas Wilkins. Chris worked closely with Bryan and his team to compose 18 new scores for the concert for a full size Symphony Orchestra. He worked closely with Jessica Dannheisser who assisted in orchestrating.

String arrangement

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Chris has arranged, recorded and produced strings at Abbey Road Studios, Air Studios & British Grove Studios. His arrangements have been used live at the Royal Albert Hall, Hollywood Bowl & Carnegie Hall.

He arranged the strings and group vocals across multiple tracks on Ellie Goulding's album 'Delirium' in addition to live recordings and special acoustic releases of singles such as "Love Me like You Do", from the soundtrack for the film 'Fifty Shades of Grey'.[5]

Royal wedding

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Chris Ketley accompanied Ellie Goulding when she was asked to sing at The Royal Wedding reception in 2011. The Duke of Cambridge and Duchess of Cambridge asked Ellie Goulding to sing her cover version of Elton John's "Your Song" for their first dance.[6]

Live career

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Chris Ketley playing Live 2016
Artist Instrument Dates
Ellie Goulding Lead guitar, keyboards 2010–2018
The Rakes Guitar, piano, backing vocals 2007–2010
Dua Lipa Guitar, keyboards 2015
Markus Feehily Guitar 2015
Christophe Willem Guitar, keyboards, bass, backing vocals 2013–2014
Conor Maynard Guitar, keyboards, programming 2015
Rumer Guitar, keyboards 2011
The Moons Guitar, backing vocals 2009–2011
The On/Offs Guitar, piano 2006–2007

T.V. appearances

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Artist Instrument TV Show
LeAnn Rimes Bass The Graham Norton Show
Donny Osmond Bass Strictly Come Dancing (Not house band)
Barry Manilow Guitar Strictly Come Dancing (Not house band)
Alfie Bow Ukuele Alan Titchmarsh Show
Gary Barlow Guitar The X Factor
Cher Piano The X Factor/Graham Norton Show
Katherine Jenkins Bass Lorraine Kelly
CeeLo Green Bass Strictly Come Dancing
Ellie Goulding Guitar, bass, keyboards The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent, Saturday Night Live,

Conan, The Jonathan Ross Show, Top of the Pops, Jools Holland, Graham Norton, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jimmy Fallon, Alan Carr, Blue Peter, The One Show, among others

Discography

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Artist Project Role
Zendaya "Rewrite The Stars" Acoustic Guitar, piano, arranger, producer
Ellie Goulding "How Long Will I Love You?" Piano, arranger
Ellie Goulding "All I Want" (Kodaline Cover) Piano, arranger
Ellie Goulding "Intro(Delirium)" Arranger, strings, production, writer
Ellie Goulding "Avail" Arranger, strings, production, writer
Ellie Goulding "Love Me Like You Do – Abbey Road Version" Piano, guitar, arranger, strings, production
Ellie Goulding "Army – Abbey Road Performance"

Piano, arranger, strings

Ellie Goulding "O Holy Night"

Piano, guitar, arranger, production

The Rakes "KLANG" Album Guitar, piano
The Moons "Life on Earth" Album Guitar

Awards

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His work on a piece of music called "Avail", which was used in an online advert to raise awareness about domestic violence, was awarded a Cannes Lions award in 2017. The piece of music was set to picture by Biscuit Filmworks production company, directed by Noam Murro, commissioned by Victim Support, choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.

The piece of music was co written by Chris Ketley, Joe Kearns and Ellie Goulding, arranged By Chris Ketley, and co-produced by Chris Ketley and Joe Kearns.[7]

Endorsements

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  • Gretsch Guitars[8]
  • Hofner Guitars[9]
  • Blackstar Amplification[10]

References

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  1. ^ Jones, Tamlyn (8 August 2016). "Digbeth tech firm signs up Michael Jackson's guitarist for online lessons". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  2. ^ Winter, Kevin (21 November 2011). "Ellie Goulding Performs Private Show at the CW Network". Zimbio.com.
  3. ^ "The Mighty Fallen feature on BBC Introducing". BBC Northampton. 1 April 2011.
  4. ^ Gourley, Dom (5 February 2009). "Dis Meets The Rakes". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Ellie Goulding Delirium Credits". AllMusic.
  6. ^ Hereford, Worcester (22 November 2012). "Ellie Goulding Sings Live at the Royal Wedding". BBC News.
  7. ^ "Ellie Goulding Awarded Silver at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2017". Music News. 29 June 2017.
  8. ^ Gretsch, Guitars (11 November 2017). "Chris Ketley Gretsch Guitars Artist Page". gretscgguitars.com.
  9. ^ Hofner, Guitars (11 November 2017). "Chris Ketley Hofner Guitars Artist Page". hofner.com.
  10. ^ Blackstar, Amplification (11 November 2017). "Chris Ketley Artist page Blackstar Amplification". blackstaramps.com.
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