Keerthi's mother's dream was to make him a doctor but he started to follow a course on lathe machinery at the Technical College, after his O/Levels.
But Padmasiri never allowed Keerthi to touch the instrument, because he feared the boy might neglect studies if he focused on music.
He had three cousin brothers – Bandula, Lalith and Ranjith, who frequently patronized their home to learn the guitar from Padmasiri.
Unfortunately for him, the music orchestra backing him gave a low tempo and the song finally ended up like a poem.
[5] Having learnt the guitar from his cousin Bandula, Keerthi and a few teenage friends formed a small musical group which played at functions but was never paid.
Riyaldeen, having heard about Keerthi's exceptional skills, invited him to join as a bass guitarist for the musical group "Galaxies" led by Stanley Peiris.
Though Keerthi played the bass guitar, at these recordings he was given small percussion instruments like maracas, clappers, triangle and bells.
Rookantha Gunathilake to be on the keyboard, Sarath Wickrama the accordion and Mahinda Bandara was slotted for the lead.
[5] In addition to Stanley Peiris, Keerthi was fortunate to get work in the recordings of renowned musicians like Sarath Dassanayake and Rohana Weerasinghe.
He was invited to join Patrick Denipitiya's Combo as a bass guitarist and vocalist singing songs of Clarence Wijewardena, W. D. Amaradeva, Nihal Nelson, Neville Fernando, Nanda Malini and Rukmani Devi.
When there were days they finished off around 8.30 pm, the intervening time was used to record 10 songs for Keerthi such as Oba Ma Hamu Wu, Neela Ahase and Kavikaraye.
[5] Keerthi used to play for Independent Television Network's (ITN) popular Madu Rasanga segment presented by Ariyasiri Vithanage and Indunil Dissanayake and produced by P. L. A. Somapala.
Suddenly Rajini Selvanayagam came up to them with a sheet of paper and wanted someone to do a nice Baila, Kapiriñña melody for the words Sinhala Raja Kaale Newei since her troupe had a dance item lined up during the concert.
And that song was none other than Kandula Ithin Samaweyan, which became a hit and virtually marked the second innings of Keerthi's musical journey.
Vijaya Dharmasri featured Keerthi opposite Susantha Chandramali and Ranjan Ramanayake in the film Charulatha.
Later in New Zealand, Keerthi acted in Saaraa scripted and produced by Sumitra Rahubadda, playing with Duleeka Marapana and Ama Wijesekara.
[18][4] He has held the position as Chairman of the Sri Lankan Singers' Association (SLASA) in multiple times.
[19] On 26 January 2020, 256-page hardbound book titled Keerthi: Miyuru Saraka Anandaneeya Charikawa written by Upali Kumarawansa was launched at 3.00 pm at the Tharangani Hall of National Film Corporation.
[22][23] Keerthi launched a project called 'The Child' to entertain children from orphanages and to recognize their capabilities.
[24] Keerthi formed the charity program "Help Circles (Guarentee) Limited" where he started donations and money from his musical shows to establish Bono Marrow Transplant Unit to the Maharagama Apeksha Hospital.
Then he donated a HIPEC machine to the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University and funded the Handapanagala Water purification project ‘Pivithuru Pen Pooja’.
[15] With the help of Ministry of Education and Zonal Directors of aesthetic studies, Keerthi presented 500 violins to 1000 students representing all nine provinces.