Keller Williams

ryan adams gold

“When Stars Go Blue” – Ryan Adams
from 05/07/05

I mentioned last week that Ryan Adams writes a lot of slow tuneless sad songs, this one is actually one of his sad songs that I really like. The reason why? He actually writes a melody. It’s a lilting little melody that floats like a paper boat on a lake. It’s a beautiful song, really. This version is with the Cardinals, his most recent touring band. This band rather rocks and so even this ballad has some loudish guitar noise with it. I like the earlier version with the acoustic guitars and the sadness.

But this is a nice version and the electric guitar solo here is quite fine. The Cardinals remind me in some ways of the Grateful Dead, and they are obviously fans since on this last tour they covered several Dead tunes. They also keep Adams expanding on his songs improvisationally, giving this tune a real jam. Something it has never had.

keller williams grass

“Hole in the Backyard” – Keller Williams
from Grass

Keller Williams is generally a one-man jam band. He tours as a solo artist but creates a thick, layered song with just him, a guitar, and a looping machine. With the machine, he can record a quick guitar lick or vocal sound and then continually play it back over and over, while he creates new music on top of it. Add more layers and you get a sound that is unique in the business.

This is one of the better songs off of his latest bluegrass disk, Grass. It’s full of clever, pun-filled lyrics about what they’re going to do with a giant hole in the backyard. The music is foot-tapping, shake-your-hips marvelous. It’s the kind of song that means absolutely nothing but is still a joy to crank up and boogie to.

tom waits rain dogs

“Midtown” – Tom Waits
from Raindogs

This is Tom Waits that I can dig. It’s an instrumental electric jazz number that sounds like it could be an outtake off of one of Miles Davis’ later albums, or part of a movie score circa 1970 detective stories.

It is only about a minute long, so I’m sure it’s part of a larger whole that I have yet to really listen to.

the libertines

“The Man Who Would Be King” – The Libertines
from The Libertines

As I start to listen to new music again (as opposed to my countless bootlegs) I find my musical tastes migrate across the sea to the shores of the United Kingdom. This is either because we’re experiencing another British invasion or because several of my writing buddies are from the UK.

These days Pete Doherty gets more press for his narcotics arrests than for fronting Babyshambles or previously, the Libertines which is a shame because he’s responsible for some of the best indie rock to hit the airwaves in some time.

This is a pretty straight-out rock number that takes some interesting changes in the bridge, and some impressive “la la la’s” in the chorus. And who doesn’t like la las?

bright eyes i'm wide awake its morning

“Train Under Water” – Bright Eyes
from I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning

I swear I’ve written about Bright Eyes in Random Shuffle before, but looking through the archives I see nothing. Age is creeping in faster than I thought.

Bright Eyes is basically Ohioian Conor Oberst’s band with various side players thrown in when he wants. He writes painfully beautiful lyrics with a generally acoustic, folk-laden musical background (although Digital Ash in a Digital Urn is his attempt at Radiohead-inspired electronica).

Bright Eyes are one of my new favorite bands out there. Their lyrics are so often incredibly raw and honest to make one embarrassed while still being inspired. “Train Under Water” is a nice acoustic number with Conner whisper whining right along with the strums of the guitar. But there is enough of a melody and changes in the chorus to make it head-bobbingly terrific.

keller and the keels grass

Interesting covers are nothing new in the bluegrass world. There are bluegrass covers of Prince’s “1999”, Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart, Hayseed Dixie did a whole album of AC/DC covers, and who can forget Dolly Parton singing “Stairway to Heaven?”

The ubiquitous one-man jam band Keller Williams has teamed up with Larry and Jenny Keel for an all-bluegrass album titled Grass. It is an interesting mix of original tunes and covers from the likes of Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, and the Grateful Dead, amongst others.

Keller Williams solo is something of a minor miracle. Playing a variety of instruments including a 12-string guitar modified into a 10-string instrument, bass, and synthesizers he creates a rainbow of sounds by looping them all together on a delay system.

The Keels add some nice flavors to the music creating a more organic sound than Keller normally creates as a solo player. The pickin’ and a grinnin’ is nothing but sunshine. The trio plays some mean bluegrass and is obviously having a great time doing it.

Keller, being the smart-arsed clown that he is, just can’t stop himself from tweaking the covers he chooses. So we get “Mary Jane’s Last Breakdown” which is a creative mixing up of the two Tom Petty tunes, and a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Loser” bookended by the chorus of Beck’s song of the same name. Both work better than they have any right to.

The low spot is the Pink Floyd cover “Another Brick in the Wall.” While the playing there remains solid, gone is the dark cynicism of the original version. Pink Floyd plays the song with a sneer toward the horror of elementary school. Keller plays it with a wink and a smile at how clever he is for doing such an interesting cover but misses the soul of the song.

The standouts are the three original Keller Williams tunes. The album opener “Goofballs” is a fast, hilarious ode to the drug-induced road trip. With lyrics like

Rockin’ it, never stoppin’ it,
Cap’n Kirk and Spock’n it
Transforming the road into the holodeck
Crunchin’ it and punchin’ it, casually lunchin’ it
Doin’ what you can to avoid the wreck

it’s hard not to smile like a freight train.

The other two self-penned tracks, “Crater in the “Backyard” and “Local” contain the same type of smart-allecked lyrics and jubilant melodies.

“Dupree’s Diamond Blues” might just be better than the original Grateful Dead version. There is a lightness of touch and buoyancy in Keller’s version that the Dead could never muster.

Grass is a jubilant touch of newgrass that for the most part will satisfy my bluegrass needs until the next summer festival.