A performance dream

Vyktoria Pratt Keating will entertain at Java Cycle Café Saturday for Halloween performance

Arizona singer songwriter Vyktoria Pratt Keating will bring her musical talents to Williams Saturday for a special Halloween concert at Java Cycle Café in Williams. Pratt Keating will perform a variety of songs during the free Halloween weekend show, scheduled to kick off at 5 p.m. and conclude around 9 p.m. Her CDs will also be available for purchase.

All coffee drinks will be 10 percent off for the Halloween concert.

"Java Cycle is a place where I can go in and just play original stuff. At the coffee house I'll probably do some rock and some Celtic," Pratt Keating said. "I love singing, I love making people happy (and) playing music for a living subsidizes my music career, which is a little more artistic."

Her name may be a familiar one to music fans, both locally as well as nationwide. The self-taught guitarist recently played at Pancho McGillicuddy's in Williams for a number of summer engagements. This is her second time playing at Java Cycle. Nationally, she has received airplay on hundreds of radio stations and won numerous awards. Her CD "Blue Apples" is available at Borders Books and Music, Tower Records and other locations. Her performances and CDs have been reviewed by such notable publications as Billboard, New Age Magazine, Performing Songwriter and the Washington Post.

Pratt Keating said her influences include Jethro Tull, Kate Bush, XTC, Genesis, The Beatles, Rush and others. During her career Pratt Keating has opened for Jethro Tull and Mary Chapin-Carpenter as well as many other well-known names. Her CDs include "Blue Apples," "This Guardian at Noon," "Something About Driving" and others.

Pratt Keating's tour with Jethro Tull came as a result of a letter she sent to singer Ian Anderson, in which she enclosed a CD of her music. She said she wasn't sure that Anderson would even see the CD let alone listen to it. Ten days later, however, she came home to find a number of messages from Anderson himself on her answering machine. Shortly thereafter she found herself on a whirlwind tour with the group.

"It was literally a dream come true and the whole tour was better than anything I could have made up," she said. "It was amazing. It a nutshell, they are my favorite band."

Pratt Keating, a fan of the holidays, said she has a number of special Halloween-type songs in store for those who attend the show. A few of her Halloween-styled songs include "Mutating Frogs," "You're Dead, Black Helicopters" and "Disembodied Voices on Tape" among others.

"I'm just into all of that stuff and I love it, so writing about it is just natural," Pratt Keating said.

Besides music, Pratt Keating is also an avid professional astrologist. She travels all over the state for her music and has most recently played venues in Phoenix, Prescott and Pine Top to name a few.

"Astrology themes show up in my music a lot," she said.

Pratt Keating will return to Java Cycle Nov. 24 for a special Christmas engagement.

"She plays original Halloween, spooky, funny, scary music and it should be a riot to listen to her. She loves the holidays and she is coming back at Christmas," said Java Cycle Cafe owner Louise Clemmer. "It's very clever music, very folksy as well as kind of rock and roll and Celtic. She does wonderful Celtic music."

Clemmer encouraged people to wear costumes to the special Halloween show.

"Everybody can come dressed up and in their costumes and have some of our fall drinks. We have our sips of the season. Kids are welcome to come. They would love to hear her songs," Clemmer said. "The lyrics of her songs are so clever. She writes the lyrics to her songs as well. It's just so much fun when she comes because she talks to the audience and she makes us laugh."