Keith Austin

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He was thirteen when his love affair began with rock 'n roll. In 1957, Keith Austin wandered into the midst of a press conference for Elvis Presley at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. Elvis was just the warm-up act for Schecky Green then, but he had electricity that could be felt. After shaking Elvis' hand, he went home and played "Heartbreak Hotel" nearly 100 times in a row. From that afternoon on, Keith felt, lived, and loved rock 'n roll.

By the time he was fourteen, he had his own weekly radio show called "Strictly Teens" on KENO Radio in Las Vegas. In the decade that followed, he divided his time between hosting a daily radio show, a weekly TV dance show, "Teenbeat Las Vegas," and promoting one of the nation's first teenage nightclubs, "The Teenbeat Club." There, he brought artists such as The Beach Boys, Bobby Vinton, Bobby Vee, Dick & DeeDee, Bobby Darin, The Grateful Dead, The Surfaris, The Checkmates, Bobby Rydell, and many others.

From the syrupy "Teen Angel" by Mark Dinning in 1960 to the serious chords of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" in 1967, he loved what happened to rock 'n roll during the decade of the 60s. The Beach Boys painted pictures of bikini-clad girls and fun in the sun. Martha & The Vandellas had us dancin' in the street with the slick choreographed soul beat of Motown. The Beatles were catalysts that transcended the syrup to the serious. The Rolling Stones changed the American style with their mop-haired look. The Doors' psychedelic songs brought national social consciousness.

In the late 1980s, Keith hosted a prototype Rock Files show on KTYD Radio in Santa Barbara. The three-hour weekly show renewed his love affair with rock 'n roll radio, pulled a 51% audience share, and was number-one in the market.

In May of 2010, Keith Austin and Steve Miller were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for their pioneering work in early concert promotions and for creating America's first teenage nightclub, The Teenbeat Club, in Las Vegas, Nevada.