To most, the term “one-man band” conjures up turn-of-the-century images of some hapless soul strapped, perhaps as punishment, to an unfortunate Rube Goldbergesque device in which everything from a bass drum and a high hat to an accordion and a tuba simultaneously conspire to emit a terrifying racket that doesn’t even begin to seem musical until well after your fifth or sixth adult beverage. If that’s the case, you haven’t heard Keller Williams, a thoroughly modern musical phenomenon who could perhaps best be described as a one-man jamband. Attend a Keller Williams concert and you’ll find a lone soul on stage blending a bewildering variety of guitars and other instruments into a dense aural swirl that rolls more musical influences into a single song than many artists manage to successfully embrace in an entire career. Balanced on an sonic razor’s edge between control and chaos, the heart of the show is Williams’ Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro, a high-tech looping machine that allows the burgeoning 30-something prodigy to lay down his own bass, vocal percussion, and other parts live and repeat them back on the spot. Adding and subtracting these loops as a song progresses, Williams weaves his hypnotic brand of guitar improvisation and psychedelically tinged lyricism through them all to create a potent musical experience that’s as danceably powerful as it is impressively imaginative. Whether it takes place in a club or in front of 50,000 fans at Bonnaroo, each Keller Williams show is as unique as the man himself, a fact which has earned the artist legions of dedicated followers who find something new and exciting waiting in every performance. Late last year, we sat down with Williams to find out where it all comes from and where it’s all going.

Tell us about your first steps on the road to proverbial stardom.

I was raised from a seed in Fredericksburg Virginia. I’d wanted to play music and be a performer ever since I was a little kid. I begged and begged my parents at age three to get me a guitar, and they did. And I pretended to play it for many years. I had it as a prop. It probably had the same strings on it for ten years. I just pretended to play it.

I had a friend show me some chords, like three or four chords, and I started matching those chords with songs that I knew off the radio. Then I guess two years later I made this horrible demo tape. It was so bad that I would push for the live audition kind of thing. I was 16 or 17 and going into these bars, and I’d play for dinner and chips and they didn’t have to pay me anything. But they were like “Well, give us a package.” And I said, “I’d rather just play for you.” And hopefully they would say yes, because then they wouldn’t have to get this demo tape that would surely solidify me not getting the job. So I guess my first gig was in ’86. I was sitting on the back porch of the restaurant that held about four tables. This was in Fredericksburg. Later I got a gig at the country club doing a happy hour kind of thing. And then from there it just went to these bars and restaurants and coffee places that were not really music venues, but I convinced the owner to set me up in the corner, and I just kind of played background music so to speak. No one was really paying attention to me, and I wasn’t paying attention to them. But at the same time I was honing my idea of what I wanted to do.

It started out as a solo act, just playing covers and things like that. Then that evolved into a band situation in high school and in college. And then the band thing… I was able to kind of achieve somewhat of a dance vibe. I got used to that at the band shows with people actually dancing. And then once the band broke up, and I needed work, I went back to the solo work. I still wanted to achieve the dance portion of it. So after spending hours and hours and hours on stage with just a guitar and microphone, I started to add a little bit of technology.

You’re largely self-taught. What advantages and/or disadvantages do you think this has brought to your music?

Well, I think the first thing that comes to mind would definitely be disadvantages. Not really learning how to read music. I guess learning how to read music could have its advantages and disadvantages, but to me it’s all about advantages and going through countless books of music playing different songs. But the disadvantages would be that you could just be locked into that particular type (of playing) and not be able to think outside the box depending on what kind of person you are. I never really learned how to read music or to write music, and in return I’ve pretty much come up with kind of a consistent way of songwriting and really not veering off into intricate times and things. I hope to do that in the future. I hope to think about intricate times and a little more complicated chord progressions, which is much easier to do if you are actually writing it out. Then you can kind of follow along as you’re doing it.

Are you always working on your craft? Do you see it as an ongoing evolution?

I hope so, yeah. I like to think it is. I’ve kind of settled into a certain instrumentation. There was a while there that the instruments I was using were constantly changing and now that I’m doing so many fly gigs, I’m flying out, I’ve kind of settled into what works as far as what to bring on the fly gigs. I like to think that my music is evolving. Occasionally, like recently this year, I’ve taken on a bluegrass ensemble with Larry Keel and his wife Jenny on bass. That, in a sense, has gone back to the roots, so it’s evolving. In other ways, it’s kind of remaining rooted.

Tell us a little bit about your syndicated radio show Somewhat
Ruleless Radio.

It would be Completely Ruleless Radio if the FCC was not involved. But since they are involved, it’s somewhat ruleless because there are some rules that we have to abide by. But basically the rules are out the window as far as sticking to a certain genre or to a certain vibe of the show. It’s easier to tell you what I don’t play, which is contemporary country music and opera. Everything else is fair game. We’ve got everything from Paul Anka doing Nirvana to some Japanese reggae band. So there’s really no rules other than the FCC’s rules.

Is this something you go to a studio every week and do?

It’s done at a studio, and I really wish I could do one a week, but I can’t. For some reason I can’t seem to pull it together to pull one off one a week. I do, however, have 68 episodes so the weeks that one is not made, then the stations have 68 episodes to pull from as far as something to play. But I try to do as many as I can. I’m getting ready to jump on the bus for three weeks and there’s not going to be one done for at least a month. But I have a sponsor now and because of the sponsor we have a website that’s streaming it 24 hours. That’s pretty new, but there are other stations that stream on-line and people can hear it.

How would you describe your own music to someone who has
never heard it?

I would say it’s solo acoustic jazz funk reggae technograss. Nothing is prerecorded. I don’t hit a button and all of a sudden the bass line and the synchronized drums come in. Everything is created on stage by live phrase sampling. So I’m able to record something right on the spot on stage, hit the button and it repeats what I’ve just played and then I can layer on top of it, looping live phrase sampling. And in return that adds a little bit more of a band sound, a little bit more of a groove. I can solo over top or sing over top and achieve more of a dance vibe.

Was there a “eureka” moment where you discovered the equipment that would allow you do that?

I started with absolutely the wrong piece of equipment, which in hindsight was a really cool thing because it really helped me work on my timing. You know this piece of equipment I had I would have to set the parameter, for instance, to 4.20 seconds, and then I would have to play inside that parameter. If I play too fast, it would come back too soon. If I play too slow, it would come back too fast. Then I got the right gear where I could actually control a tap tempo so to speak with my foot, and that made it night and day. It was completely easy compared to what I was doing.

As a one-man band, do you find it daunting to perform by yourself
live on stage?

No. I’ve been doing it for so many years, you know, going on 20 years, I guess, as far as the solo thing goes, and it’s very, very easy. Sometimes, it’s a little bit daunting actually playing with other humans. That’s kind of where the harrowing experience could come in just because it’s more than me. There’s so much freedom I have as a solo act. I can go anywhere at any time. I haven’t quite perfected the art of communicating with other people without words on stage. The telepathy has to work. If I had mental telepathy, I could play with everybody.

Are there ever times when you miss having a band behind you?

Sure. There’s some times where I figure it would be fun to play with folks and have that camaraderie on stage. But I’ve really taken this year and tried to make this year more of a collaborating year. I’ve been playing a lot with the Keels in this bluegrass situation. And this summer was chock full of co-bills at festivals and things like that. So I sat in with a lot of bands this year, and kind of got my fix this year at least so I haven’t really missed it too much.

On your last studio record, “Home,” you played all the instruments yourself for the first time.

Unfortunately!

Why do you say unfortunately?

Well, you know, I’m not really a drummer. I’m a vocal percussionist more than I am an actual drummer. I think for what it is, that record definitely documents my musical abilities in 2002-2003, which was when that record was made. Listening to it without it that in mind, you’re thinking, “Wow, that drummer really sucks!” But there’s a couple of tracks on there where we program the drums and it’s cool. You know, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but never let myself do. Play all the instruments. Mainly because I cross paths with so many musicians and have become friends with them and everyone seems to be ready and willing and able, young and hungry and wanting to play on a record. I’ve never really let myself be the sole performer because of all the connections I’ve made over the years with other musicians. And it seems like a shame not utilize their ability when they’re willing to do it. So I went ahead and went for it for that record, and I’m really proud of that record. I enjoy listening to it. I’ve gotten used to all the parts. If you stand outside yourself as kind of like a music critic and you actually listen to that record, there are some parts that are a little strange.

Is playing all the parts something you think you’ll do again?

I think I’ll do it again one day, and it’ll be completely different. Hopefully, I will have progressed in my drumming and keyboard playing. But yeah, I think all the guitar parts and the biggest parts are pretty good on it. I’ve been working on (another) studio record for two years, and I’ve been collaborating with all different kinds of folks, heroes in my musical realm, and I’m hoping that record comes out in late spring of 2006.

Are you still working on it?

Yeah. There’s still a couple of sessions that need to be done as far as playing and collaborating with some folks.

Who have you been playing with?

The biggest achievement of this record would be Bob Weir, from the Grateful Dead. I flew out to California and did a session with him that lasted all day. That’s going to be a really interesting song with he and I both playing guitar and harmonizing. Martin Sexton, who is a huge influence and an amazing singer/songwriter and vocalist. Sanjay Mishra, an Indian guitarist as well as Samir Chatterjee on tablas. And Steve Kimock, John Molo. String Cheese Incident did two songs. I’m waiting on files back from Questlove, Ahmir Thompson, the drummer from the Roots. And I did four or five songs with me and my engineer/producer Jeff Covert in which I did all the guitar and bass and vocals, and he did the drums.

That’s quite a line-up.

Yeah, I’m pretty happy with it, and the cool thing is that there’s been no deadline, and I’ve been able to really take my time on it. Obviously. I’m in my second year on this thing.

You spoke about waiting to get files back. Is this record something that you’re doing largely digitally over distances?

It’s all digital. So far I’ve flown to Colorado. I’ve flown to San Francisco. Flown to Massachusetts to do these sessions and had some sessions come to me. But then there’s the situation with everyone being so busy and out on tour. Like with Questlove, I was able to put down the bass and guitar tracks and send it to him on a CD, which he loads into his Pro Tools files and records over. So that’s the way that’s going down because with our schedules it’s nearly impossible. Or you know, with Bob Weir, it’s probably 11 months to a year to actually get a date where we can get together. I’m trying to speed up the process a little bit. But there’s still a couple more sessions. I hope to actually record in a room with these people, but if that can’t be the case then I’m not afraid to send them the files.

What’s your take on that? There’s been a fairly seismic revolution with Pro Tools and the whole digitalization of music that makes recording in a lot of ways much easier, but also much different.

All I can say is, if they didn’t stop making the analog tape then analog recording might have a chance. But because of the Pro Tools and because of all this new technology, the old technology is not profiting (them), therefore they’re not making the tape. Now I am all about using both forms of technology, old and new. “Home” was all tracked on two-inch tape. And then the two-inch tape was dumped into the computer where we could tweak and mix in a more modern way rather than mix off of two-inch. It’s very cool, and it’s very organic, but obviously you get used to these two different avenues and the places you can go and record in. So now Pro Tools has like an analog plug-in, an analog simulator type of thing, and so the two-inch is becoming a thing of the past. But there’s also the question, if you have a two-inch machine that’s made at the latest in the 80s, I guess, in the early 80s, and so when they break, a lot of people have to drive several hours some place to have it repaired. Because you sure as hell aren’t going to ship it. It’s a big, big machine. So it’s becoming a problem to do analog, and the digital revolution is just mind-blowing how far it’s come in such short a time. But I hope they start making tape again. I hope to own a two-inch machine, and I hope to continue to do analog recording. But until that, I’m definitely 100% taking advantage of the new wave of recording.

Do you have an iPod? Are you in the consumer end of the revolution?

Oh hell, yeah. There’s a lot of people that don’t have one, but I use my iPod for many applications. I use it on the plane. The coolest thing about the iPod is when you exercise, when you’re running or snowboarding or skiing or whatever, and you’re not dealing with skips or if you wipe out you don’t have to deal with the stop button being pushed.

What’s on your iPod these days?

What’s not on it! On the iPod on the plane I usually listen to Kaki King, “Everybody Loves You.” Or Charlie Hunter and Pound for Pound, the album “Return of the Candyman.” I’ve got 15 titles by Fela Kuti, Egypt 70, Africa 80, different bands from Fela Kuti. And the one that gets played the most is “Live With Ginger Baker.” That gets played a lot when I’m snowboarding. Then I load in all my radio shows, too.

Tell us a little bit about “Stage,” your 2004 live release.

Stage was recorded in the spring and the fall of 2003. I made a big old loop around the country that year. I do every year pretty much, but that year was very well documented. “Stage Left” was recorded on the west coast. Most of “Stage Left” was taken from this one show, which had a seated audience, and so the energy was intense in the sense that people were quiet and honing in on my every word. And then “Stage Right” was the opposite. The shows that I used for that were all seatless venues, big open floors and just a huge dance vibe. So two separate kind of vibes on two different CDs. Lots of covers. A couple of unreleased originals.

When you’re playing a show how much of what happens surprises even you. In other words how much do you know what you’re going to do in advance and how much just happens on stage?

Well, for a long time, I would just wing it. There was no setlist. I would just play whatever I felt like. But then more and more people started to become what I call “repeat offenders,” in the sense that they’re coming to several shows in a row. So then the issue began where I wanted to keep track of what I was playing, and then the next year when I would go back to that market, I would look back and see what I played and try to play a completely different show from what I played the year before, as well as different shows from what I played in the past on that particular tour. So it became a little more of a challenge to make sure that I wasn’t repeating songs and things like that. To answer your question, there will be sometimes where there will be a slight mistake. Sometimes in between the songs that I’ve planned I’ll just lay down a loop and improv something. There will be a lot of times when I’ll forget some words and I’ll just try to make up some words on the spot. There’s a lot of improv in that. That happens a lot. I get lost in my lyrics and forget where I am.

How many loops does a typical song have in it?

Well, first and foremost, looping is kind of like the added spice in the recipe. The show is based around guitar and vocals. Usually there’s a guitar line, a bass line, a vocal percussion line, and then maybe at the end of the tune, maybe I’ll throw in a couple of mock horn parts. So at the minimum three and at the most probably like 12. But once you have a song with 12 layers in it, then that’s kind of the end of the song. You build it up. I don’t let it go on and on like a broken record. Most of the time it’s kind of like a center section of the song where I’ll just use the loops as a bed for my solos and then one by one I’ll just subtract the loops to where it goes back to singing and playing, and I’ll finish the song. Other times, I’ll just layout a loop for a bed and sing over top of it. But it’s not every single song that it happens. It’s an added additional bonus.

What guitars are you playing these days?

My main axe is a Martin HD28. Then I’m using an Avante Baritone guitar. As well as a Rick Turner Renaissance Baritone 12-string. A Guild JF30. Godan XLT. A Mexican Fender Jazz.

How have Elixir® Strings performed for you?

Fantastic. I use all Elixir® Strings except for the low string on the baritone guitars because Elixir doesn’t make a heavy enough string for the low of the baritone. So I use all Elixir® Strings all across the board except for the 70 gauge. I couldn’t imagine using anything else.

Where do you want to take your music next?

I would like to, hopefully, stay on the same plane that I’m on now as far as ticket sales go. It would be nice to increase but if it stayed like this I could be more than happy because things are just really beautiful right now as far as my career is concerned. I can only hope that it remains on that plane. I would like to consistently play theaters and things like that. Musically, I hope to try to reach and make my solo show more interesting by adding more instruments and different kinds of music, and I also want to play with more people. Do different little side projects and take that into distant lands as well.