KellerWilliams, K-Dub, or Kdubalicious, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing isa musical flow of consciousness, a lord of loops and who’s breaking downmusical barriers for over two decades. Since his studio collaboration with TheString Cheese Incident in 1999 he has embarked on an unbelievable run ofprojects including the WMD’s, Keller and The Keels, his funk band More Than ALittle, Grateful Grass, and so much more. Through it all he has continued tohone his craft as a solo performer. Late last year he released his 16th fulllength album Speed, a return to his work with the Keels. However, he wasflying solo in Fort Collins before a packed room at Washington’s.
Theunmistakable strum of Keller’s guitar emanated from the P.A. as the lights dimmedfor set one. This was an early Friday night show starting promptly at 7 PM. Theacoustic picking quickly gave way to a huggable “Love Handles” before he firedoff a perfect “Stagger Lee.” He continued with “Moving Sidewalk” off his 2003release Home. Keller’s catalog is extensive and when he plays aloneeverything is on the table, always. At any given moment he could launch offabout an ill-fated tour that involved a “Kidney In A Cooler,” which is what hedid. Keller informed us the following was a true story before building anamazing version of “Making It Rain” utilizing his loops as well as a midieffect on his guitar. He ended the first set with a pair of covers startingwith Strumbella’s “Spirit” off the new album followed by a room shaking versionof Morphine’s “Buena.”
Kellerhas pared down his stage setup from his sprawling living room shows. Heutilizes a Roland HandSonic drum pad, a single bass, and his loop station is aseries of pedals attached to a mac. It’s incredible to consider the range ofsounds made with something he can pack into a couple road cases. K-Dub beganset two with “The Big One” his personalode to carpe diem involving bacon and liquor. After a spot on “Breathe” hecontinued with the fan favorite “She Rolls” about how a police dog found earlyretirement. Keller crushed a version on the Talking Heads’ “This Must Be ThePlace” before Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca” happened. He closed with a“Scarlet Begonias” sandwich featuring Phish’s “The Wedge” as the meat. Much tothe delight of the crowd he encored with Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts” before callingit a night.
KellerWilliams is an entertainer first and foremost, who has no hang-ups about mixingin a little Lizzo or Ricky Marten into his setlist. His musical prowess andabilities make him one of a kind, which is how he has maintained such a loyalaudience for so long. At Washington’s he showed no sign of slowing down.
