Keller's Corner
Hoxeyville
I rode from the outer banks to Norflolk where I was to fly through Chicago to Grand Rapids for the highly anticipated Hoxeyville festival. I land in Chicago to find out that my connection to grand rapids has been cancelled and I'm automatically booked on the 7:30 am flight the next day. So..... there I am, in Chicago, on a Friday night at 7:45 pm with 11 hours to kill. I'm going out. I cab it over to Brendan Bayliss's place for beers and then to the House of Blues to see Sound Tribe Sector Nine. My old buddy Andrew Queen who is now teching for Sector 9 got me tickets and passes to the show (thanks drew). This cancelled flight was truly working out in my favor. I have one of the Sector 9 live records on my ipod. I've listened to it on the plane and it had always put me in a state of bliss at high altitude. It’s been a while since I've seen them live. I was blown away. The first half was dark and slightly leaning toward the crunk side of electronica. The latter part of the set opened up to some blissful type of music, which put emphasis on the instruments and not the computers. All the songs that I saw had very prominent melodies accompanied by super cool video. I was able to say hello to Drew and the band during set break. I was excited to learn about the possibilities of Sector 9 acoustic. I'm very interested in hearing what that sounds like.
The next day I flew bright and early to Grand Rapids. My guitars didn't arrive for several flights after mine. We had to go and leave them behind. I always carry one on and travel with my loopers in tow so the show was to go on. I borrowed a bass from Andy Hess and a guitar from Tim Bluhm (to use as a backup in case my carry on faulted). We checked everything side stage and all was well. Luckily my guitars showed up about 45 minutes before my set time. Yay. I was slated to go on before the Rhythm Devils. This was their first show back from a break and thus the first show with Tim Bluhm. I was excited to see everyone, as I grew quite attached to that band and crew. Being a huge fan of Tim Bluhm and his songwriting, it was obvious that I would invite him up to join me for a few songs. We played his song “gold plated” as well as “birdsong.” The next sit in was Sikiru Adepoju. We did a super crazy version of “boobjob” that I'm exited to hear the tapes of. The 3rd to last song, I was joined by Andy Hess on bass and Davy Knowles on guitar for my short show song. Less than halfway through the tune Bill Kruetzmann jumped on his drums. I closed the set with “browneyed women” and “scarlet begonias” with the entire band of devils joining me (minus Sikiru, but Mickey joined in about half way through brown eyed which was so cool to hear those mallets hitting the cow bells). It was extremely exciting and I started scarlet really fast. It blazed. I loved it. What an honor to be joined on stage during my set by such greatness. I was giddy. Next it was the Rhythm Devils’ turn. I was excited to see this band with Tim. It was vibrant and super jammin’. The band was playing with authority. I really dug the subtle differences from what Tim was doing as opposed to what I did with the songs. Where I was singing a minor key type of harmony, Tim sang more of a major key, which sounded really different and cool (fountains of wood). Or we did cold rain and snow like the dead did it in the later years. But with Tim, it was done like it was on first record. Making me want to do dances like the swim and the mashed potato (which I did). The whole set was great as a whole. Especially with a new member. I will say it again. If you get a chance to see the Rhythm Devils, do it.
PHOTO by: Alan Hess
STINGRAY
Since I last posted, I've been a part of family bliss. I flew from Grand Targhee to Norfolk, VA and rode to Duck, NC where I hung with my parents, sister, bro-in-law, nieces, wife and kids at the same house we stayed at almost the same week last year. All was mellow until I got tagged by a stingray. Can you believe that shit? I love the ocean. I've always swum vigorously in the waves, diving fearlessly into the surf with reckless abandon. My daughter and I get into jumping over waves with her on my shoulder. We have fun basking in the surf. At different family beach excursions, it’s become tradition for the men to disappear for a round of golf.
This year the tradition began where the women would go off on a day spa adventure of relaxation and pampering, as they should. No big deal, we are at the beach. We will just go to the beach. And we did. My son is 2 and off the wall, go bonkers crazy. Running around making the beach lifeguard nervous. I was on it. Being the defensive goalie. Always staying between the surf and his wholy craziness. He wore out and was ready to chill in the shade with my dad and niece. Now it was time to throw the girl on my shoulders and jump some waves. We jumped one. Weee. Hahahaha. We jumped another. Woooo. I'm up to my waste in sweet Atlantic goodness. And then. BIP! Puncture wound to side of the foot. I figured it was a pissed off crab that new we were getting a giant bushel of his brothers and sisters to rip apart and eat on the porch with beers while we paid the nieces to mind the youngins. Which we did. I limp to the shore with the girl on my shoulders. I get my bro-in-law to watch after the daughter and limp up to the umbrella where my dad is hanging with crazy boy. Wincing in pain while blood is spewing through a sand-covered puncture wound, I tell dad to stay with junior while I tend my wound. This thing fucking hurts. Bad. I go up to the lady who, for 2 years in row, rode my ass about not having the proper wristband to get on this secluded section off the beach and guilt her into dressing my wound with the first aid kit while I hyperventilate in pain. Time passes but the pain just gets worse. I'm on duty with the youngins so I just cuss under my breath while I monitor the water activities. Luckily the daughter gets cold and we journey the less than a quarter mile walk back to house where I swap out wet bathing suits for a warm and dry diaper(for the boy) and fix sandwiches where I of course have to bargain bites for in exchange for potato chips and the eternal promise of cookies if the sandwich is consumed. All while the poisonous venom is coursing through my veins and my left foot swelling up larger than my right. My father returns from the beach and I can adjourn to the basement where I can freely cuss and wince from this neverending pain that is clearly not going away. By now I've figured out that this is not a crab pinch but some sort of poisonous something or other. I obviously have to go to the hospital. But I don't want to go in and say "I cut my foot and it hurts". I want to know what is crushing my soul with pain. So I think "what would Emily do". She would research on line. I Google “mysterious puncture wound from the ocean”. Stingray stuff pops up and I scroll down and see a picture of the same wound I have on my foot. Ahhhhh I'm getting somewhere. "For immediate relief, soak the wound in water as hot as you can stand without scolding". It’s been at least 2 hours since the barbing so with haste I sprint to the tub and soak my foot in some hot ass water. Immediately, the pain subsides. RELIEF. It says to soak for 90 minutes. After 10, I feel great and am ready to go get an x-ray to make sure no part of the barb remains in my foot. But all of a sudden, the pain rushes back and I hop back to the tub for the remaining and recommended soak time. It said 90 minutes and it fucking meant it. Something about the hot water battles the venom. Thank 8lb 7 oz. baby Jesus (I like my Jesus as a little baby). Any way... by this time the ladies have returned and Emily takes me on over to urgent care where they find a small piece of sting ray barb lodged in my foot which is sliced open and removed. The pain is gone and not to return as we sit and feast on delicious crab and talk of the craziness of the day. From there I ventured on to a whole other adventure with twists and turns and another epic tale of star studded hangouts and sit ins. So... stay tuned for that.
23rd Annual Targhee Bluegrass Festival
I've always heard wonderful things about the Targhee Festival. Nestled in the Tetons, this fest makes me think that this is what the Telluride Bluegrass fest was like 25 years ago. This is the 23rd year for this fest, and it is cool, mellow, beautiful, intimate and inspiring. The place is a small ski resort but what looks to be spectacular terrain. We took the chairlift to the top which was weird without any ski/boarding gear. Amazing view from the top. 360 degrees of beauty. We pulled in on Thursday night as the Targhee bluegrass camp was wrapping up. There were little circle jams scattered about wafting acoustic music, filling the crisp air. Oh yeah...it was chilly which was refreshing coming from the hellish humidity of Virginia. The music started at 4pm with the punch brothers. Chris Thile fronts this super insane bluegrass band. With intricate changes and over the top genius musicianship, the punch brothers are not your average bluegrass band. Jaw dropping chops and crystal clear pitch perfect vocals, with just a hint of pop music make this string band out of the ordinary.
After the punch brothers was bela fleck, with edgar meyer and zakir hussain. Being a fan of all 3 artists, I was excited to see this trio. I sat indian style on the ground in front of the stage, next to sam bush as we witnessed history in the making. All 3 being literally at the top of their game and at the top of their field. I thought bela and edgar were heady, but zakir is something to behold. Sam (who was a part of Strength in Numbers with bela and edgar and is no stranger to complex arrangements) really got a kick out of watching bela and edgar move their lips as they counted the 7 time signature that zakir was playing. Zakir is a MASTER of time. I'm a fan of the tabla beat science as well as the diga rhythm band, but he really shined in this trio. The tablas are tricky and watching and hearing him get these magical, surreal tones from these small drums is something I shan’t forget.
After the 3 musical Einstein’s finished, it was time for the Targhee bluegrass camp folks to take the stage for a massive cluster pluck. 4 up right basses and a bunch mandos, banjos, guitars and fiddles…all playing together.
Then it was our turn. This was a keller & the keels gig so obviously, we were amped being that we were following such greatness. The one drag was the large banners hanging up in front of the speakers. One was picture of a skier ripping through some fresh pow pow and the other a mountain biker. The problem was the rain. Not the actual rain as it is something you get used to and expect at festivals and celebrate when it’s not there. Only once these large banners in front of the speakers got wet, the sound did not pass through but reflected the sound back to the stage causing feed back. Lots of it. It was a bummer but they figured it out and pulled the banners back allowing the sound to go out and reflect back. Luckily we had help on stage to get us through these troubled times. Help by way of an action packed set of sit ins. The first was on the 3rd and 4rth songs featuring bela and chris thile. We played pepper and teen angst. Larry, jenny and I just relaxed and took on the roll of the rhythm section and let bela and chris play off of one another like a couple of super genius kids having fun while blowing minds in the process. Ours (the rhythm section) included. After they left we played a few more and brought up danny barnes to help us with “get it while you can”. Danny just makes me smile. His vibe is so pure and genuine, that anyone and everyone is lucky to be in his presence. He left and we played a few more and brought up gabe witcher from the punch brothers to play fiddle on “don’t cuss that fiddle”. We've never done that song with a fiddle player and now I hope we can always have one when we play it. Gabe was amazing and truly added greatness to that tune. He played as if he had heard it before which he hadn't. Last but not least we were graced with the presence of sam bush for “sailin shoes” and “porta potty”. Larry, jenny and I get giddy when we share stories of those sam bush sit ins. This one was epic. Sam is the man and I'm truly grateful he hung out and waited his turn in our sit in parade. So many nights at the Telluride bluegrass fest has sam gotten me off with his playful style of mando wizardry. The 3 of us viewed all of our sits as gods and we will probably never forget that set. Thanks to tom garnsey and vootie productions for having us there. I hope to return many times. KW
Farewell Rhythm Devils
I just recently finished my portion of the Rhythm Devils tour. Just in case you don't know, this band consists of Mickey Hart on percussion, Bill Kreutzmann on drums, Sikiru Adepoju on talking drum, Andy Hess on bass, Davy Knowles on guitar and vocals, and me on guitar and vocals. Due to prior commitments, I will be unable to be a part of the 2nd leg. Fortunately, Tim Bluhm from The Mother Hips was chosen for the midwest/east coast run. I'm a huge Tim Bluhm fan. He wrote "Stunt Double", which I recorded on the Grass record. The Mother Hips make great music. My favorite record of theirs is called Later Days. Perhaps you've heard my cover of "Gold Plated" or "Do it on the Strings”. Those plus "Stunt Double" came off of the Later Days record. I'm looking forward to hearing Tim, a true California guitar player and singer, sing and play this true California music. It’s going to be good. Check your computers. See when and if the Rhythm Devils are coming near you, then make a plan to go. You won't be sorry. A lot of people don't know what to expect. Being that the drummers are from the Grateful Dead, people may expect lots of drums/space. Not the case. What you will get is groovy drum based music with lyrics penned by Robert Hunter and Mickey Hart. You will also get a healthy dose of Grateful Dead material as well. Go see this band. The energy is super positive and California is represented. West side. My last eight shows with the band were really good. I felt like we turned a corner after the first 3. And once we got to Denver things just seemed to click. I feel like we achieved Mickey’s vision of throbbing together as one musical tribe. My favorites were the Dead songs. Everyone likes to hear songs they know. And when we went into a Dead song, the crowd would light up. I don't mean spark doobies and such (which they did, which is a given at these types of shows), but instead, their eyes and faces would light up as they sang every word back to me. These people and I share a fascination with the Grateful Dead and I felt truly connected with them. Most of the audience was older Dead heads, which gave me great pride to see them sing and dance to this music. One highlight for me was show number 7 in Salt Lake City. For some reason, I got to make the set list. Red Butte Garden is a really cool amphitheatre. The sun was high when we went on. Some complained of the heat and the altitude. I got Grateful Dead flashbacks when we took the stage to open with Sampson and Delila. It was surreal to play that song with Bill and Mickey behind me to say the least. The vibe was great at just about every show. But Salt Lake I feel was my favorite. Speaking of vibes, my portion of the tour ended at Gathering of the Vibes. Bill had flown in 2 awesome fire dancers from Hawaii. So, the show ended with fire dancing as well as Stanton Moore, Jay Lane, Chris and Andy from Umphrey’s McGee, and the drummer from Assembly of Dust; all sitting in on drums and percussion. There was a large representation of Grateful Dead music at this festival by way of Dark Star Orchestra on Thursday and Furthur on Friday. Both bands apparently played a lot of the same songs. Some say Furthur did that on purpose, but I truly feel it was a coincidence. Needless to say, Mickey and Bill went for more of a Rhythm Devils experience with 4 out of the 11 songs on the list being Dead songs. I got to sing 3 of those songs. “Cold Rain and Snow”, “Uncle John's Band”, and “Fire on the Mountain”. I love Gathering of the Vibes. Ken has done an amazing job with that festival. They have always been very Grateful Dead friendly and I appreciate that. A big fat HUGE thank you to Bill and Mickey for giving me an experience with the Rhythm Devils that I will remember for the rest of my life. Thank you.