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Keller Williams | |
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![]() Williams at Langerado Music Festival March 9, 2008 Photo: Steve Moyles | |
Background information | |
Also known as | K-Dub, Keller |
Born | Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States | February 4, 1970
Genres | One-man band, rock, jam, progressive bluegrass, dance, funk, folk, alternative rock, jazz, reggae |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
Instrument(s) | Vocalist, guitar, bass guitar, percussion, theremin, synthesizer, piano |
Years active | 1991–present |
Labels | SCI Fidelity, Basil Leaf Music |
Website | kellerwilliams |
Keller Williams is an American singer, songwriter and musician who combines elements of bluegrass, folk, alternative rock, reggae, electronica/dance, jazz, funk, along with other assorted genres. He is often described as a 'one-man jam-band' due to his frequent use of live phrase looping with multiple instruments. [1] Keller Williams was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia on February 4, 1970, and began playing the guitar in his early teens. He later matriculated at Virginia Wesleyan College in Virginia Beach where he received his degree in theater. [2] After college, he moved to Colorado to advance his music career and expand his repertoire.
Though primarily a solo artist, Williams has toured with Yonder Mountain String Band, The String Cheese Incident, Umphrey's McGee and Ratdog, and has frequently performed at The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, the AllGood Music Festival, Summer Camp Music Festival, The Rothbury Festival, the Elysian Fields Music Festival, [1] and Jam Cruise.
Williams has an audio taping policy of his performances, and for non-commercial trading of the recordings, but use of video or flash photography, or any recordings for profit are prohibited. [3]
Keller Williams Incident is a collaborative performance between Williams and The String Cheese Incident. They have performed together, and Williams' 1999 album Breathe was released collaboratively under the name Keller Williams Incident. Williams and SCI began collaborating after Williams saw the band perform in Colorado, offering to play with them in exchange for free ski passes.
Williams also frequently performs with a backing band as "Keller Williams with Moseley Droll and Sipe". Formed in 2007 as the WMDs, they first played at the Bonnaroo music festival. The group consists of Williams on rhythm guitar, Jeff Sipe on drums, Keith Moseley on bass, and Gibb Droll on lead guitar. They changed their name to the WMDs in 2008. [4]
"Keller & The Keels" is a bluegrass project consisting of Williams and the husband and wife combo of Larry Keel and Jenny Keel. The trio released Grass in 2006, a collection of both original and cover songs. They released Thief, an album of cover songs, in May 2010. A new album, "Pick", with The Travelin McCoury's, was released in July 2012.The most recent Keller and The Keels album is Speed, which was released in 2019. It features a Larry Keel song, a Keller song, and several covers. [5]
A self-taught musician, Williams usually performs with a variety of instruments connected to a Boss Loop Station RC-300 phrase looper pedal, which allow him to play a riff once on an instrument, record, and repeat it. He also uses a Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro looping unit for that effect. [2] He often then records and loops an accompanying instrument. This allows him to play unaccompanied on stage, helping him to recreate the sound of a full band. He also uses a wide variety of effects, including an envelope filter expression pedal, wah pedal, a Line 6 tap delay, a Roland GR-55 guitar synth, a Line 6 M13 Stompbox Modeler Guitar Multi Effects Pedal, and a Talk Box.
“I think a lot of times, I try to bring the audience in on the joke and make them part of the band, especially when it’s just me. There’s a real sense, when it’s all working, that the audience and myself, we’re all getting away with something. We’re all doing something really bad and illegal, and we’re getting away with it, because something this fun usually is.” [6]
Keller Williams
His main guitars used are a Martin HD-28 and D-35, an Alvarez/Joe Veillette MTB baritone, a Gibson Chet Atkins SST Acoustic Electric Guitar with synth pickup routed to a Roland synth processor, a Fender Precision bass, a Becker Acoustic Retro, an Avante baritone acoustic guitar, a Rick Turner baritone 12-string, a Tacoma Thunderhawk, an early 1950s tempo and a Gordon Anderson custom 8-string. [7]
In addition, Williams incorporates a variety of acoustic and electric percussion instruments into his live sets, most notably a Roland Handsonic HDP-15 drum machine and a Korg Wavedrum. He also frequently performs on piano, a theremin, a Korg Kaossilator, a Macbook, and a set of Boomwhackers percussion tubes.
Williams is the host of the radio show Keller's Cellar. [8]
In 2009, Williams started the "Once a Week Freek" on his website, where every week he released a new song from his album "Odd". Upon release of every song on the album, he released the entire album in one download. Due to the success of this idea, Williams chose to keep the "Once a Week Freek" project going and released a new song/video or two each week. These tracks consisted of live performances of previously recorded songs, unreleased covers of other bands' songs, or just different renditions of his own recorded music. [9] [10]
Williams played as a member of the Rhythm Devils with Grateful Dead drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart at the Gathering of the Vibes festival in 2010. Williams then appeared with the Rhythm Devils in nine July shows on their summer tour. [ citation needed ]
Kdubalicious is a project involving Keller Williams on bass/guitar, Jay Starling on dobro/keyboards, and Mark D on drums. Kdubalicious is Reggae/ Dub/ Funk. Keller's project Kdubalicious formed in late 2010, and the group continues to play occasional shows. There was a unique winter concert held on a turf field in Fredericksburg, VA featuring Kdubalicous with Larry Keel, Jenny Keel, and John Starling in December 2010.
The String Cheese Incident (SCI) is an American jam band from Crested Butte and Telluride, Colorado, formed in 1993. The band is composed of Michael Kang, Michael Travis, Bill Nershi, Kyle Hollingsworth, and Keith Moseley, and, since 2004, Jason Hann.
Phil Lesh and Friends is an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead.
"Friend of the Devil" is a song recorded by the Grateful Dead. The music was written by Jerry Garcia and John Dawson and the lyrics are by Robert Hunter. It is the second track of the Dead's 1970 album American Beauty. Like most of American Beauty, the song is largely acoustic and opens with Garcia playing a descending G major scale in the bass register.
Railroad Earth is a bluegrass-influenced Americana band formed in Stillwater, New Jersey in 2001. The band's music combines elements of progressive bluegrass, folk, rock, country, jazz, Celtic and other Americana influences. Recognized as "carrying on the tradition of improvisational, genre-spanning music laid forth by the Grateful Dead," Railroad Earth is known for lyrical songwriting and extensive live improvisation. The band takes its name from the Jack Kerouac prose poem "October in the Railroad Earth". The band also has a song of the same name.
Breathe is an album by Keller Williams with the String Cheese Incident, released in 1999.
The All Good Music Festival and Camp Out was a weekend-long event held annually in July. Since its inception in 1997, it had been held at venues along the Mid-Atlantic, including Trip's Farm Masontown, West Virginia, Brandywine, Maryland and most notably Marvin's Mountaintop. It moved to Legend Valley in Thornville, Ohio in 2012. All Good announced they would be taking a short hiatus in 2014 and not be having a festival. They returned in 2015 in Summit Point, West Virginia. Headlining acts were Primus, moe. and Cake. In 2016, it was announced the festival had been retired and would be replaced by a two-day event at Merriweather Post Pavilion.
New Monsoon is a rock jam band that is based in the San Francisco, California area that was founded in 1998 by Penn State classmates Bo Carper and Jeff Miller.
Keith Moseley is an American musician and songwriter, who plays bass guitar among other instruments for The String Cheese Incident, a jam band from Boulder, Colorado, of which he is a founding member.
Jeff Austin was an American mandolinist and singer best known for being a founding member of the Yonder Mountain String Band.
Dream is the ninth solo album from Keller Williams, released in 2007. With the help of numerous collaborators, Williams explores a wide spectrum of musical genres in each of the songs.
Grass is the tenth studio album by Keller Williams. It was released in 2006.
Freek is the debut album by Keller Williams, released in 1994. It contains mostly solo arrangements of his early tracks.
Rex (Live at the Fillmore) is the thirteenth album by Keller Williams, recorded live on February 8, 2006 at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, Colorado.
12 is the twelfth album by Keller Williams, released in 2007. It features one song from each of his previous 11 albums, as well as one previously un-recorded song (Freshies).
Gibb Droll is an American guitarist known for his blues-infused rock. He is the founder of the Gibb Droll Band, but more recently has played with the group Keller Williams with Moseley, Droll and Sipe. He is currently a member of Bruce Hornsby's backing band, the Noisemakers. He has appeared on Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, The CBS Morning Show, A&E, MTV, VH1, and CMT. His albums have sold over 50,000 records independently, been acknowledged in Billboard Magazine and earned himself a spot in the Rolling Stone Reader's Top 20 Poll.
In the inaugural year, the Bonnaroo Music Festival was held June 21–23. The more than 70,000 tickets sold out in advance.
Lockn' Festival, first known as Interlocken Music Festival, was an annual four-day music festival held at Oak Ridge Farm near Arrington in Nelson County, Virginia. The festival focused primarily on jam bands and other music improvisation acts. Its inaugural event took place September 5–8, 2013, drew nearly 25,000 fans and featured notable groups such as Furthur, Trey Anastasio Band, Gov't Mule, Widespread Panic featuring John Fogerty, The String Cheese Incident featuring Zac Brown, and The Black Crowes.
Song in My Head is an album by Colorado-based jam band the String Cheese Incident. Their first album in nine years, it was released on April 29, 2014.
Scott Law is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist known for his work with guitar and mandolin. Based in Portland, Oregon, he has been a professional musician since 1992, performing within genres such as rock, blues, bluegrass, and Americana with groups such as The String Cheese Incident. In 1999 Law founded Scott Law Music. After performing with numerous bands, Law released his first solo album as a singer-songwriter, Deliver with the Scott Law Band, in 2005. This was followed by several other albums, including the acoustic album Black Mountain in 2013.
Larry Dwayne Keel is an American bluegrass musician from Southwest Virginia who has been performing since 1976. He was a founding member of Magraw Gap in 1990. He also performs with his wife, bassist Jenny Keel, in The Larry Keel Experience. He has released over a dozen albums.