Q&A with Keller Williams

Jam musician Keller Williams will be performing at the Orpheum Theater on Dec. 3 at 9 p.m. (Photo by C. Taylor Crothers)

Virginia native Keller Williams’ unique sound consists of a blend of bluegrass, rock, reggae, folk, funk and electronica. He has been performing and recording music since the early 1990s, and has toured alongside Yonder Mountain String Band, The String Cheese Incident, Umphrey’s McGee and Ratdog. Williams has become renowned for utilizing the method of phase looping in his solo live performances, and has recorded over fifteen studio albums. He will be playing a live show at the Orpheum Theater Dec. 3 at 9 p.m. The Lumberjack was able to interview Williams while he was relaxing at his home outside Frederiksberg, Virginia, and talk to him about his musical origins and passions.

The Lumberjack (LJ): At what age did you begin learning to play the guitar? You’re entirely self-taught, correct?

Keller Williams (KW): Well, I definitely had a friend show me a couple chords when I was about thirteen. I think I got a guitar when I was about three and pretended to play it for many years, and a good buddy of mine, Kirk Edwards, showed me a few chords. I guess three years later [I was] just feverishly practicing and listening to the radio and putting songs together [and] my first gig was three later when I was sixteen.

LJ: How and why did you originally become interested in utilizing phrase looping in your live performances?

KW: I think for obvious reasons. There was many, many hours of me playing solo with just a microphone and guitar, and I wanted different avenues to go down musically without being able to afford humans and without wanting to have a sequencer where I press a button and the whole band comes in, I didn’t want to go that route either.  I kind of wanted to create different musical avenues for myself without anything being prerecorded and create it right there. The short answer is to make it more interesting for myself.

LJ: Do you have a set process when it comes to composing new songs? What do you draw on to fuel yourself creatively?

KW: Lyrically it’s probably real-life situations: a mixture of real-life situations and conversations. I guess systematically it usually starts with a hook, like the chorus, and I usually branch out from there.

LJ: What is your favorite part about playing a live show?

KW: Wow, there are many favorite parts. The release that I need of all this music inside that needs to come out, that’s a fun thing for me. Another thing is the circular energy that happens; it’s all about adrenaline really; the audience getting into me, me absorbing it and giving it back in this circular thing. It sounds really bizarre, but that is where it really gets happening and there is a real connection with the audience.

LJ: Have you been touring heavily over the last few years?

KW: The past couple of years I’ve developed that weekend warrior mentality, staying at home during the week with my kids, and leaving Thursday-Sunday, and it has become kind of a routine. I think people around here are used to me disappearing during the weekend.

LJ: Tell me about your upcoming album, Bass. How long did the summer recording sessions take? What made you decide to play exclusively bass through the entire album?

KW: It kinda started with my infatuation with Jaco Pastorius a couple years back. The bass has been around on my stage for the past ten years [and] once I started looping, it was easy to incorporate the bass. And once I incorporated the bass, it seemed that was when things really started to change, as far as people coming to shows and what not. As far as the new record goes, it features Jay Starling on the keys and Mark D on the drums. It’s very spacious, open-air reggae dub funk and it’s really a blast for me to be able to direct and lead a band just by playing bass. There is so much power behind it as opposed to the acoustic guitar [and] when I make a move or make a decision it’s felt; it’s there; it’s really a lot of fun.

LJ: You’ve had the opportunity to tour with many bands, including The String Cheese Incident, Rat Dog and Yonder Mountain String Band, to name a few. Is there one group that you particularly enjoyed playing with?

KW: I love it all; there’s a camaraderie on the road when you’re traveling with other bands, especially when you’re traveling with your own band. I’d done many tours with people I’ve handpicked to be with, hang out with. It’s a beautiful thing; there is no real one group of folks. I do love collaborating and being with other people, and not being solo all the time. The solo thing is definitely my day job and what I’m known for, but I do love to collaborate with other folks.

LJ: You’ve had the privilege of playing shows alongside Grateful Dead alumni Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreuztmann. What has it been like interacting and jamming with such legendary musicians?

KW: There’s one main word to describe that and that would be surreal. My experience [was] with the band from 1987 until 1999. I was on the tour and Phil Lesh was also on the tour. My experience with the band was I was always on the hill in the back or behind stage. Next thing you know, I’m actually standing next to these people playing music, and it’s weird man. The first couple times it was very surreal; I was very nervous [but] the more I played with them, obviously the more comfortable I got.  It took time for a while to separate them from my heroes and just human beings, it took a while, but it’s all-good now.

LJ: When you’re not jamming or writing music, what do you do for fun? Do you have any real downtime?

KW: I play a lot of crazy eights with my daughter, and we also have gotten into bicycles: we ride a lot of bicycles. My son, he likes to run around and wrestle, so I like to wrestle with him. We like to go down and hang swings on tree branches down by the river. We like to swing on tree branches; we like to put on big tall boots and go tromping through the woods, all kinds of fun stuff to do.

LJ: What should members of the Flagstaff community expect from your upcoming show at the Orpheum?

KW: They can expect solo acoustic music that’s grounded in singer-songwriter, alternative folk music, and also they can expect to see that drift right to the edge of organic electronica. They might hear some things that they have heard before, but done possibly a different way, and hopefully there’ll be a bunch of young, happy, and hairy people bumping into each other and smiling.