14 minute read
A conversation with Keller Williams
Priceless expression when space is possession
A conversation with Keller Williams
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD STAFF WRITER
When it comes to Keller Williams, there are three key elements of his storied live performances — experimentation, fun, unity.
Hailing from Virginia, the beloved singersongwriter and multi-instrumentalist has been crisscrossing the country with his singular blend of acoustic, jam and dance music for the better part of the last 30 years.
When Williams’ initially came upon the national touring scene in the early 1990s, he was at the forefront of a new era of jam and improvisational music that mixed folk, bluegrass, electronica, alternative rock and jazz.
It was a sonic movement that, alongside Williams, also included pioneering acts Yonder Mountain String Band, Leftover Salmon, The Larry Keel Experience, and The String Cheese Incident — all of which remain collaborative partners whenever the occasion may arise.
And yet, Williams’ was unique in his musical pursuits as a “one man jam band.” He was not only a solo act, but a freewheelin’ troubadour roaming the highways and stages of America. He continually aims to blur the lines between performer and audience each night, always in the name of peace, happiness and good times.
Williams is a true melodic chameleon, a passionate musician who can slide onto any stage with any group (in any capacity or setting) and seamlessly elevate the improvisational possibilities of a show unfolding before the eyes and ears of the listener — a talent he has honed to perfection throughout the decades.
Smoky Mountain News: Where does that very carefree nature come from within you, onstage and off?
Keller Williams: I think it comes from me being an audience member and what I would want to see. The last thing I want to see is any kind of drama or conflict, you know?
There’s definitely dark songs and minor keys, but that’s different. As far as a stage presence goes, I mean, if I’m in the audience, I want to feel comfortable. And so, I kind of make sure I’m comfortable onstage to try to give off that vibe of hoping that people are comfortable in the audience enough to where they can be uninhibited.
Smoky Mountain News: You’ve recently turned 50. I was curious about how as you approached that number, what’s your perspective on the road to the here and now?
Keller Williams: Well, I’ve got nothing but love and just sheer amazement for the fact that I’m still able to do what I’m doing. I couldn’t really have done it without people coming to the shows, and especially promoters who bring the people to the shows.
I guess once I set my mind to it as a teenager — you know, that this was going to be “the path” — it was this mentality from the get-go of like, “I’ll do it.”
— Keller Williams
Smoky Mountain News: Well, there definitely comes a point where you have a conversation early on in your head that says, “Hell or high water, this is what I’m doing. And then everything after that is just details.”
Keller Williams: That’s right. And I got comfortable in a bucket seat, woke up in a rest area, slammed on the brakes a few times — that made you stronger. And then a lot of the whole Grateful Dead world, I learned how to travel thrifty in my own world of playing music as a solo act. I mean, we’re talking the early to mid-1990s.
SMN: Having this life of creating music, performing music and traveling the world, being around all these different people that you’ve interacted with, what has that taught you about what it means to be a human being? KW: As a performer, I’m onstage in front of people that are paying to be there. As a human being — the way my life is right now — I have a job and that is to make people maybe forget the outside and join in my imagery. So, that’s kind of my purpose, other than being the
Keller Williams.
Want to go?
There will be a drive-in concert with singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Keller Williams Friday, Nov. 13, at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds.
The show begins at 7:30 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m. Social distancing and Covid-19 protocol will be in place. Meals are available to pre-purchase.
Hosted by The Grey Eagle and Worthwhile Sounds, tickets are available at www.thegreyeagle.com.
absolute best father and husband that I could possibly be.
That’s definitely the first, but in order to support everybody, the second is definitely right there and gives me a reason to play 110 shows, which I probably would anyway, because I truly enjoy it. I’d do it for free. And I get paid to be away from them and to deal with middle seats on misconnections and things like that.
The stage stuff is all for the joy and love of that kind of energy that’s brought. And that’s kind of what I’ve learned as a human — that’s my job until they stop coming.
SMN: It is what it is, so I might as well have fun doing it.
KW: Yeah. Well, first priority is head. Take care of [your] head first. Have a good time. Hopefully, the rest of fall into place. I take having fun very seriously.
BY GARRET K. WOODWARD
The velvet it rips in the city, we tripped on the urge to feel alive
Icould hear the planes overheard from the nearby Nashville airport. The room was cool. The bedsheets warm. It took me a moment to realize I was in Room 219 of the Red Roof Inn. Monday morning and a few hundred miles from my apartment back over the state line in Waynesville.
I hadn’t planned to find myself at the motel. But, a whirlwind weekend in and around Music City landed me there. Leaving Haywood County on Saturday afternoon, the plan was to head to Mount Juliet, just outside Nashville, to spend Halloween with one of my oldest friends, Sarah, and her husband, Joe.
Sarah and I have known each other since middle school, growing up in neighboring small farm communities on the Canadian Border of Upstate New York. High school dances, house parties, concerts, and so on — thick as thieves ever since.
She ended up in Tennessee. Myself in Carolina. And through that, she met Joe, a wild, wondrous soul also from New York (Buffalo) who found work and a life below the Mason-Dixon Line. Each time I find myself passing through Middle Tennessee, I tend to wander down the backroads to their farmhouse, tucked in the tree line near a quiet lake they fish and kayak on after work every evening.
Halloween night: Sarah, Joe and Garret.
The Halloween party overtook most of their driveway, backyard and garage. Folks from all corners of the local area. Fridge full of beer. Burn barrel. Costumes. Stereo blasting dark, ominous melodies. Laughter. A full moon overhead. Drinks hoisted high and in the moment. Heavy eyelids sometime around 2 a.m.
Sunday morning. Being an hour behind in Central Standard Time, the NFL games would kickoff at noon in these parts. My New England Patriots were facing Sarah and Joe’s Buffalo Bills. It was decided to head to the local sports bar. Situated in a generic shopping plaza just off Interstate 40, the watering hole was packed with Tennessee Titans fans and the sporadic Pittsburgh Steelers diehards.
By halftime, the Bills were pulling away from the Pats. In a sign of solidarity and friendship, we all decided to do a shot and celebrate simply being in the presence of each other, in this random dive bar on the fringes of Nashville.
And it was right at this moment I received a text from this girl. A month prior, while passing through Nashville, I’d matched with her on Hinge. Now, first and foremost, I detest dating apps and the like. It’s not my thing, but you do what you can in the modern era, eh?
I’m of the old-school mentality of striking up a happenstance conversation with a complete stranger of the opposite sex, though that’s pretty much come to a halt with the pandemic and shutdown. I find the apps more of a novelty and something of a toy to meander around when you’re bored and can’t seem to fall asleep.
That said, we connected and aimed to meet up the next time I found myself in Nashville. With the sun now slowly disappearing by the late afternoon, we agreed to meet up halfway at this dive bar near the airport. I jumped into the truck and took off for the Donelson Pub.
She’s from the Chicago suburbs. Professional musician. Learned classical violin at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. My age. Been in the music industry as long as I have. Aspirations to take over the world through hard work and curious adventures along the way.
It was surreal and so damn refreshing to be on a date again. It had been awhile, more so in face of how 2020 has affected us all. After two hours of nonstop, jovial conversation, we threw caution to the wind and took an Uber to downtown Nashville (aka: Broadway).
Why not paint the town red? Deal with tomorrow, well, tomorrow, right? But, within seconds of being dropped off on Broadway, it became apparent we were too late. The clock turned to 11 p.m. as the bars all began to shut down due to the state’s mandates amid the pandemic. Turn off the lights and don’t forget to lock the door.
Not to be deterred, her good friend (a bar owner in Printers Alley) had a place nearby. Find some hearty conversation and grab a nightcap. Next thing I know, I’m standing on this first-floor front porch right in the heart of the city, sipping some bourbon with this former professional rock guitarist turned successful bar owner.
Somewhere around 1 a.m. we knew it was time to shove off. She headed back to her place. I took an Uber back to my truck at the pub. We made plans to meet up again soon. A half-hour later, I’m standing in this empty bar parking lot, ready to head back to Sarah and Joe’s.
And it was right then and there that I realized one of my headlights was out. With my hands covered in grease and drops of blood, I emerged from under the hood unsuccessful several minutes later. The other headlight bulb in my glovebox didn’t work.
Not wanting to chance being pulled over with a busted headlight, out-of-state license plates while navigating backcountry roads at 2:30 a.m. I decided to leave the truck and deal with it in the morning.
With the bright lights of the Red Roof Inn sign next door like a lighthouse pulling my lost ship back to shore amid choppy waters, I checked into room around 3 a.m. The front desk clerk gave me a discount due to the absurdity of getting a room so late.
The sounds of airplanes overhead, I sat on the bed and watched some late-night TV. Sipping a lukewarm Budweiser, I was three-hundred miles from my Carolina apartment. Onward back to work and daily responsibilities come morning. You win again, Nashville. Always a pleasure. Kudos.
Life is beautiful, grasp for it, y’all.
West Ashville’s Largest Open Air Music & Food Venue Outdoor Stage Outside Dining Patio Live Music | Amazing Eats
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• An artist demonstration will be hosted by painter Jennifer Sharkey from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 7 at the Haywood County Arts
Council on Main Street in Waynesville. Free and open to the public. www.haywoodarts.org.
• Balsam Falls Brewing (Sylva) will host an open mic from 8 to 10 p.m. every Thursday.
Free and open to the public. www.balsamfallsbrewing.com.
• Elevated Mountain Distilling Company will host Bohemian Jean ALSO: (pop/soul) from 8 to 11 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6. Free and open to the public. www.elevatedmountain.com.
• Frog Level Brewing (Waynesville) will host
Scoundrel’s Lounge 6:30 p.m. Nov. 6, Bona
Fide Nov. 7 and Good Bonez Nov. 14. All shows begin at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Free and open to the public. www.froglevelbrewing.com.
• Lazy Hiker Brewing (Franklin) will host The
Pony Express Nov. 7 and Anna Victoria Nov. 14. All shows begin at 7 p.m. For more information and a complete schedule of events, click on www.lazyhikerbrewing.com. • Lazy Hiker Brewing (Sylva) will host Anna
Victoria 7 p.m. Nov. 6. For more information and a complete schedule of events, click on www.lazyhikerbrewing.com.
• The Maggie Valley Festival Grounds will host a drive-in concert series with Jason
Isbell & Amanda Shires (rock/Americana)
Nov. 5, Keller Williams (jam/acoustic)
Nov. 13 and St. Paul & The Broken Bones (soul/rock) Nov. 19. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m. Hosted by
The Grey Eagle and Worthwhile Sounds, tickets are available at www.thegreyeagle.com.
• Nantahala Brewing (Sylva) will host semiregular live music on the weekends. Free and open to the public. www.nantahalabrewing.com.
• The annual “Polar Express” train ride will kick off the holiday on Nov. 6 from the
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad depot in downtown Bryson City. For a complete listing of departure dates and times, call 800.872.4681 or click on www.gsmr.com.
• There will be a free wine tasting from 2 to 5 p.m every Saturday at The Wine Bar &
Cellar in Sylva. 828.631.3075.
Waynesville art walk, live music
“Art After Dark” will continue from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, in downtown Waynesville.
Each first Friday of the month (May-December), Main Street transforms into an evening of art, music, finger foods, beverages and shopping as artisan studios and galleries keep their doors open later for local residents and visitors.
Participants include Burr Studio, Cedar Hill Studios, Haywood County Arts Council’s Gallery & Gifts, The Jeweler’s Workbench, Moose Crossing Burl Wood Gallery, T. Pennington Art Gallery, Twigs and Leaves Gallery, The Village Framer, and more.
It is free to attend Art After Dark. www.waynesvillegalleryassociation.com.
Cashiers’ ‘Elevated Wines Weekend’
The Elevated Wines Weekend will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, at The Village Green Commons Amphitheater in Cashiers.
This wine tasting event is designed to appeal to both the true oenophile or just someone who enjoys exploring wine. More than 80 wines will be available to taste and will be paired with small bites.
The 20 featured winemakers and vineyard owners from Napa Valley will introduce their wines and share their unique winemaking process and philosophy. The wines average $35 per bottle and a portion of proceeds from wine sales benefits The Village Green.
Davis Pickleseimer, founder of the Elevated Wines Weekend Event and owner of the Highlands Wine Shoppe, envisions establishing the Highlands-Cashiers area as a wine destination.
“Elevated Wines will host and showcase small wineries, winemakers as well as new wineries and new winemakers,” says Pickleseimer.
The Haywood County Arts Council annual show, “It’s a Small, Small Work,” will be held Nov. 6 through Jan. 9 at the HCAC Gallery & Gifts in Waynesville.
The 2020 exhibit will feature 47 artists and almost 300 individual works of art for sale. The show provides a unique opportunity for budding artists to exhibit their work, as well as the opportunity for more seasoned artists to test their boundaries.
All pieces submitted are exactly 12” or
A primary goal for the event is small towns coming together to support small wineries. He adds, “Once established, the hope is for Elevated Wines and our area to become a ‘rite of passage’ for the wine industry.”
Tickets are $150 for general admission, $100 for local residents of Jackson and Macon County, and a special $50 ticket for anyone in the Cashiers service industry, such as first responders or hospitality and tourism employees.
To purchase tickets, visit www.eventbee.com/v/ elevatedwines/boxoffice. Tickets will also be available on the day of the event.
All North Carolina COVID-19 regulations will be followed and the event is open air. Face coverings and hand sanitizer will be provided. Designated drivers will be available.
For additional information, visit www.highlandswineshoppe.com/events, call 828.526.4080 or email director@cashiers-
green.com. smaller in every dimension, including base, matting, and frame. All artwork is for sale, priced at $300 or less, and must have been created in the last two years. Commission will be the gallery’s usual 60 percent (artist) to 40 percent (HCAC) split.
The Haywood County Arts Council’s small work show was launched in 2008 to demonstrate that original artwork is affordable and fun. Most businesses, homes and apartments can accommodate smaller works of art — and the show promotes buying local and regional work to help support artists in Western North Carolina. www.haywoodarts.org or 828.452.0593.
