Cecilia

Biography

An aggregation of the Veltz family (father Kenneth on drums and guitar, mother Jeannie and daughters Allison and Laura on vocals, son Andrew on guitar), Cecilia evolved as a band in late 1998 in Alexandria, VA. The group had released four self-financed EP-length recordings by 2000, Buckle My Shoe, Kitchen Mix, It Just Doesn't Matter, and Live @ Zig's, and was signed by New York-based Blackbird Records in November of that year. The group/family moved that winter to Queens to be near its label.

Talent has never been in short supply in the Veltz family. Patriarch Kenneth had carved out a busy career composing and recording music for documentary television and film projects. Daughters Allison and Laura both pursued theater and choral music, the latter turning down an acceptance to the American Musical and Dramatics Academy of New York. The family had always sang and performed together informally, but when a seven-figure contract fell apart for Kenneth, the family's music became a matter of survival. The family quickly collected its talents and was soon playing every open-mic, street corner, and showcase they could get into. The group's intoxicating sound, a combination of richly arranged pop songs indebted to classic Top 40, a '90s jam band ethos, and the female harmony lineage charted by that of the Roches, Indigo Girls, the Andrews Sisters, and others, quickly drew regional attention. Coupled with an energetic, often rapturous, live show, the group effortlessly established itself as a lively club draw around the Washington, D.C., area. While most of the group's early songs were written by the experienced pen of Kenneth Veltz, within a year of the group's formation, Laura and Allison were contributing as well. The group's only non-Veltz member, bass player Kevin Jacoby, was added upon the group's fall 2000 move to New York City. ~ John Duffy, All Music Guide