KRAM Radio Interview: Keefer Glenshaw on Growth, Imperfection, and the Fire to Create

When I sat down with cellist and Berklee student Keefer Glenshaw for KRAM Radio, I wanted to understand what drives a musician who seems to never stop creating. Kiefer leads both a solo project under his own name and a rock band called The Romance. He’s about to release two EPs—his solo work The Campfire and The Romance’s self-titled debut—while also collaborating with the Berklee World Strings Orchestra and a choir for upcoming performances. His schedule reflects a kind of artistic fire that I think every musician should carry: the restless urge to keep making, exploring, and growing.

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Keefer embodies that energy fully. “It’s a constant development. The line is nowhere near finished,” he told me, describing how his relationship with the cello continues to evolve even after fourteen years of practice. I had asked him how he continues to grow after so long on one instrument. As a drummer, I sometimes get bored—rhythm alone can feel limiting, especially since drums don’t let you participate melodically or harmonically. But Keefer’s view reframed that feeling. “There’s so much to learn on the cello—it’s just insane,” he said. “Every year it becomes increasingly difficult because I can do so much more, which gives me so many more things to do.” For him, growth isn’t about changing directions but digging deeper into the possibilities of one voice.

A defining part of Keefer’s artistry is his use of the looper pedal. He began looping with just a single-channel Boss RC-3 pedal, performing every Sunday for hours in Harvard Square. That discipline, born from simplicity, shaped his creativity. “A major point in my art is intense simplicity, and pushing that simplicity to its full extent,” he explained. Today, he brings that minimalist mindset to the stage—building ambient loops, layering cello textures, and even playing lead lines on an electric cello where most bands would use a guitar. My own experience with a looper leads me to over-complicate my performances, often leading to tech failure. Excited by just how many instrument I can connect to the RC-505 looping machine, I often times end up in tech failure. I hope to take Keefer's approach of "intense simplicity" more often.

Our conversation turned philosophical when Kiefer spoke about imperfection. “Humans make mistakes and humans screw up and have this flawed character that I really appreciate and love. I love that in art and I love that in performance,” he said. He leans toward polish in his solo shows, where timing and layering must be precise, yet in his band performances, chaos is welcome. “In The Romance, I’m thrashing around and falling on the ground with the cello—that chaos is a major part of the art.”

Keefer's embrace of chaos is something I try to bring into my own performance, sometimes to my own demise. I tend to lean into error, stretching myself too thin or trying things that are just beyond my reach. I like the audience to see that I’m still growing, still human. Kiefer’s precision reminds me how much I yearn to improve, but I never let my lack of perfection hold me back from performing. For both of us, I think, the heart of art lies in risk—the willingness to be vulnerable in front of an audience and to keep striving, not settling.

Keefer’s creative fire doesn’t burn quietly. From running across the Williamsburg Bridge in a one-shot music video to releasing simultaneous projects that span genres, he channels his energy into constant motion. “It’s always development,” he said, and it’s hard not to believe him. He’s the kind of artist who reminds you that momentum itself is a form of art—the discipline of never staying still, even when perfection seems impossibly far away.

Visit Keefer's website for more about his upcoming works. https://www.keeferglenshaw.com/

Follow Keefer on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/keeferofficial/.