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Delivering the goods

WHO: Keller Williams WHERE: GLC, Monday, April16 WHERE: WSSF Mainstage, Tuesday, April 17, 3 p.m. A Man and His Machine: not a headline that you’d think would pack the house.

WHO: Keller Williams

WHERE: GLC, Monday, April16

WHERE: WSSF Mainstage, Tuesday, April 17, 3 p.m.

A Man and His Machine: not a headline that you’d think would pack the house. But take one listen to Keller Williams and his ground-breaking use of a loop machine, and you’ll understand why audiences are beginning to follow him across the continent.

Williams has been enjoying success as a solo-artist since the early ’90s. His mastery of the 10 string guitar was obvious from an early age. And despite his youth, his vocals are smoky and articulate, sometimes compared to James Taylor. His song writing is wise and complex, taking you on a different journey with each listen. And with the addition of a little technology, Williams has become a musical fascination and creative force.

"I guess about the winter time of ’97 I started using a different machine than what I have now," says Williams of how he came to pair-up with his "jam man" looping machine. "At the time it wasn’t the right machine to be using. I was just trying to make it to do what I wanted. It was definitely difficult. The machine I have now is much easier to use."

The most important thing to remember as you sit and listen to Williams play is that despite the fact it sounds like there are two, three and even four musicians on stage, it’s just Williams. And despite that you’ll hear Williams voice and guitar used in two, three and even four different ways in one song – nothing is pre-recorded. Make sense?

Here’s how Williams is using a simple looping machine like no one else: He may begin by singing the first verse of a song and then break away into a simple little bridge. But with the touch of his foot, he records those 8 to 16 bars of the bridge, continues on with the song, and all of a sudden he’s got harmony. Williams cleverly continues that cycle until he’s layered, harmony, bass, percussion, trumpet (an amazing technique called mouth fluegling) and whatever other improvisations might strike him. If you close your eyes, you’ll hear what sounds like a full band. Open your eyes, there’s just one man and his guitar.

"I started messing around (with the looping) out of sheer boredom. It was cool and it was more," he laughs. "That’s the only way I can explain it. It was just more. For me wanting to create music and to play solos overtop of my own work. And I wanted to be able to improvise. It keeps me a lot more interested and focused when I’ve got a challenge in front of me, that being setting up a loop and have it being in time, and having the levels all right."

It took Williams more than a few tries to get this new form of musical juggling down. He unveiled it slowly to his audiences, one song here, one there. And those same audiences are still trying to categorize the new sound, using such adjectives as funk-folk and organic techno grass.

"The reaction was ‘what’s going on? How’s he doing that? Wait, wait, wait!’ Now I’m getting what I call ‘repeat offenders’ so it’s old news to them. But for those who have never heard it, it’s still fun to watch their reactions!"

His latest CD, aptly titled Loop , captures Williams live on stage, and the audience reaction. Williams is quick to point out that it would make no sense to go into a studio to record with "jam man" – the creative excitement would be lost. In fact, he very much likes to keep the CD experience and the live experience separate. In the past he has recorded with the String Cheese Incident. He says his next CD, due out later this year, will also have a full backing band.

"I’ve been touring solo since about ’93 and have always been very comfortable with that. I became friends with the String Cheese guys when I touring with them, opening for them and it was really inevitable that we should record something together. I thought it would be a lot of fun… And the Loop record is just representative of my live show. I like to change it up… In mainstream music people go to shows to hear what’s on the latest CD, but I’m definitely pulled in the other direction. I’m way far out of the mainstream circle and I guess I have the freedom to do that."

Interestingly enough, Williams has chosen to record several songs both with a band and with "jam man," saying that he often envisions the songs played with different twists. Deliver the Kidney is a crowd pleaser and worthy of two recordings. It’s perhaps one of the best examples of Williams’ twisted humour and clever songwriting. The lyrics alone will keep you laughing, so keep an ear open for it.

"It’s a completely 100 per cent true story. It starts on Interstate 80 going through Wyoming and there’s a big truck stop called Little America. And for miles all you see are these billboards that say ‘Keep screaming kids, Little America is just two miles away.’ And then another billboard would say ‘24 hour garage.’ So we had a day off and we had a considerable coolant leak so we pulled into that 24 hour garage and this guy with really bizarre teeth – his upper teeth were shooting out in the direction of his nose and the bottom teeth were going up, they were very perpendicular. (Listen for the chorus " perpendicular teeth, perpendicular teeth" ) We were there for about 27 hours straight waiting and we finally get fixed up and sail away from Little America and the car breaks down again and we get towed to this little garage in this little town called Perry. The first thing the mechanic says when we get towed in is ‘You guys are gonna have to wait. There’s this woman who’s delivering an organ down to Oklahoma City and her car broke down. The doctor’s are waiting with this patient and his kidney is sitting on ice in this cooler.’"

Unexpected inspiration, unconventional musicianship, undeniable talent.