Latch Key Kid

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albums

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- Latch Key Kid
- Released 2005

- All Becomes One
- Released 2009

biography

A Manhattan Beach, CA, surf rock trio, Latch Key Kid is something of a side project for singer, guitarist, and songwriter Gavin Heaney of Slackstring. The archetypal West Coast surf kid, Heaney graduated from Mira Costa, earned a teaching degree at UC Santa Barbara, and worked as a substitute teacher for a time before devoting all of his time to music. He has been a fixture on the South Bay scene for years, playing with AWOL in addition to Slackstring (a band that also features guitarist and singer Eric Lyman, drummer Matt Muir, and bassist Brett Thomas). As Latch Key Kid, Heaney released the eponymous Latch Key Kid album, recorded in his home studio, on his own Shadowmind imprint in 2005. Several of his songs have ended up on soundtracks, including material for ABC's Men in Trees and PBS' Roadtrip Nation and the independent documentaries Sofia and Roam. His song "Good Times" was spotlighted prominently in a Coca-Cola ad that aired during Super Bowl XLI in 2008, while his reggae-tinged antiwar surf anthem "Coming Home Soon" became an international underground rallying point for protesters against the handling of the war in Iraq. A second Latch Key Kid album, entitled Miracle Mile, is nearing completion. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide