Artist links myriad genres, adjectives

Keller Williams

Tonight, 8 p.m.

Mr. Smalls Theatre

All ages

(800)…

Keller Williams

Tonight, 8 p.m.

Mr. Smalls Theatre

All ages

(800) 594-TIXX

Sold out

When thinking of technical, intricate guitar work, most people will consider rock gods like Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen or Jimi Hendrix: electric guitarists who tear apart ferocious licks over a booming full-band sound.

But some of the most innovative guitar players touring today are stretching the limits of the acoustic guitar and the common stage show.

Take Keller Williams. He has been called the mad scientist of the acoustic guitar. With a style he learned from bass guitar visionary Victor Wooten, Williams uses a looping station that allows him to play myriad instruments on stage. Coupling this with a quick-strum slap guitar style, Williams mashes innumerable, eclectic sounds together to create a furious, funky hodge-podge that is like nothing you have heard from an acoustic artist before.

In a recent telephone interview with The Pitt News, Williams did the impossible when he put a label on his seemingly indescribable style: “I like to refer to it as solo acoustic jazz-funk techno-grass,” he said.

How did this style come about? In his laid-back Virginia drawl, Williams told the tale. “I started out playing in bars, did the band thing for a while and just came back to where I felt most at home. My stage show,” he said, “is basically me trying to entertain myself.”

Williams says he achieves this by following a few key rules. 1) “No political songs.” 2) “I try to stay away from the real lovey songs. I am in love and have been for many years, so love is not a heavy thing for me to sing about.” And 3) “Mainly the goal for me is to have as good a time as possible, get people dancing and smiling as best I can.”

Williams developed his rather original guitar style from being a fan first and foremost. “I like to incorporate sounds that my heroes have employed over the years. Michael Hedges, Jerry Garcia, Bobby McFerrin, the String Cheese Incident.”

Williams actually got his start opening for the String Cheese Incident when they were just starting out in Colorado and joined them on tour in 1997. “I had a great time just playing and then going out into the crowd and dancing.”

After seven studio efforts and one live album to call his own, Keller is back in the ‘Burgh in support of his latest, Grass, a collection of bluegrass tunes with his friends Larry and Jenny Keel. “We recorded that album in 12 hours. Just friends hanging out, playing music together.”

Keller’s laid-back style lends itself well to his on-stage persona. Playing barefoot, Williams uses all the instruments in his arsenal – including a bass, a plethora of guitars and percussive toys, a keyboard and even a xylophone – to their full capability, creating improvisational loops and jams over his frenzied, bright and catchy guitar style.

But while he is prone to jamming and improvisational efforts, he is still able to captivate an audience with his heartfelt and good natured singing voice, his guitar playing and his seemingly endless supply of crowd-pleasing covers. He is at once a child on a manic, musical bender and a skilled virtuoso practicing his craft for many loyal fans.

So take note, concertgoers. If you come to Mr. Smalls Theatre tonight expecting to be lulled into submission by the sultry plucking and sad lyrical content that sometimes befits the singer-songwriter genre, you may want to save your dough. Keller Williams brings the noise, he brings the funk and he is one acoustic artist who refuses to be classified.