A good way to determine if you love or hate a CD is to go on vacation with that lone CD as your only music on-hand. If you tire of it after day one, then that speaks for itself, but if it is still in your personal heavy rotation even after your return…
So it was that, while packing for a week away from home, I slipped Keller Williams’ new two-disc, live-concert set, Stage, into my carry-on. Stage captures two of Williams’ concerts in 2003, one on each disc: the first, a sit-down affair, and the other, a stand-up and dance crowd.
Williams, with his deft digital looping skills, is a one-man band, armed with a slew of instruments including guitars, a variety of percussive sounds, synthesizers, mouth flugel, theremin, and even a human beatbox. Funk, folk, dance, jazz, and jam-band stylings crisscross and collide as Williams and sound engineer-cum-periodic-harmonizer Louis Gosain offer up 27 tracks worth of originals and covers.
From the didgeridoo tribal rhythms of "Dance of the Freek," across the spacey groove interludes of "Dudelywah," to the humorous ain’t-done-got-no-blues blues of "Cracker Ass Cracker," Williams demonstrates his accomplished musicianship and grasp of multiple genres. The four-lettered, funny, and folksy "Gate Crashers Suck" quickly became an on-the-road sing-along, rewind, and sing-along again, while "Balcony Baby" provided an excuse to drop the windows and punch up the bass a notch or three.
In addition to his original compositions, Williams’ tackles an eclectic range of cover songs, from a rap-scat interpretation of The SugarHill Gang’s "Rapper’s Delight" to David Wilcox's irreverent ode to silicone, "Boob Job," happily taking on Queen and Bowie, Drivin’ n’ Cryin’, Van Morrison, Michael Jackson, the Dead, and Buffalo Springfield along the way.
Like I said: eclectic. Diverse. And great.
Two weeks after the end of my vacation, it's still in heavy rotation.
Put it in yours.
Andy O'Reilly is an aspiring writer-type, an avid music fan, and a musician of highly questionable merit. When he's not working for the man, he makes his blog home at The World Wide Rant.
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