biography

The Quiet American is husband and wife duo, Aaron and Nicole Keim. In Hood River, Oregon, they live an artistic life making music, building musical instruments, teaching music, writing books, crafting folk art, and raising their 10-year-old son Henry. Their connection to folk tradition is undeniable, even as they find new ways to sing old songs and incorporate music and art into their teaching and performing. Influenced by Depression era string band music and the folk revival, they use ukulele, banjo and accordion to accompany their old-time tunes, harmony singing, and audience sing-alongs.

No stranger to the ukulele world, Aaron has been teaching ukulele and performing at festivals since 2004. As an educator with a bachelor's degree in Music Education and a master's degree in Musicology, his true talent lies in adapting instruction to fit a wide range of learners and learning styles. His instructional videos on YouTube have gained a worldwide following and have led to teaching and performing opportunities in North America, the United Kingdom, Italy, New Zealand, and Australia. Aaron is a luthier who builds ukuleles and banjos as Beansprout Musical Instruments. He also plays in a band called The Junebug Boys. 

Nicole earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in Music Education and taught K-5 public school music for nine years while living in Colorado. After moving to Oregon in 2012, she shifted her focus to creating art while also making music with Aaron. Since then, she has taught singing workshops and performed at ukulele festivals around the world. Nicole currently teaches local ukulele classes for women, piano lessons to young learners, and performs in a trio called Lady Eight. Her goal is to help musicians of all ages find their musical voice while leading with kindness, warmth, and encouragement.

Aaron and Nicole have self-published several ukulele and banjo instructional books on a wide range of topics. Their books use Nicole's handwritten notation and illustrations to complement Aaron's well-planned scope and sequence of lessons, arrangements, original compositions, and online instructional videos.

Aaron and Nicole have been the artistic directors of Menucha Ukulele Band Camp in Corbett, OR since 2022, and are the newly appointed artistic directors of Port Townsend’s Ukulele Festival in Port Townsend, WA.