American String Conspiracy was formed in 2003 by award-winning poet Gary Keenan and guitarist Shu Nakamura as a means to explore American song traditions and to create original songs drawing inspiration from blues, country, folk, jazz, pop, rock and roll, gospel and whatever else sounds good on stringed instruments. Since its founding, ASC has performed at many venues and events in the New York City area, including appearances at the Brooklyn Country Music Festival, the Hank-o-Rama Hank Williams Festival, Kings County Opry, The NYC Opry, and the Brooklyn Winter Hoedown, and hosts their annual Christmas Carol Conspiracy show, now in its seventh year. Mr. Keenan also composes, arranges and performs music for dance and theater, and in 2009 he was a New York Innovative Theater Award nominee for Best Original Score for his work with Flux Theatre Company on the play Angel Eaters.