KELLER & THE KEELS ...ON YOUR COUCH RELIX ARTICLE

Keller and The Keels


The Campbell Farm

Partlow, Va.

April 24

On Easter Sunday, the Keller on Your Couch contest turned into a Keller and The Keels performance on a friend’s family farm – far better than some stale marshmallow Peeps. Fans purchasing Thief from Keller’s website were entered into a contest to have Keller Williams, Larry Keel and Jenny Keel come and play a private set at their home – 50 friends max, but it became about 60 – or a venue of the fan’s choice. The winner, Nicholas Dellinger, called the experience a “once in a lifetime opportunity,” and arranged for the trio to play on a picturesque land in Partlow, Va. Playing to a yard of smiling faces, the day’s single set held requests from the crowd, alongside many tracks from Thief and the catalog of both Keller Williams and The Keels.

Keller opened the stage/tent to requests unleashing requisite cries of “Freebird!” The trio unexpectedly obliged, Keller cautioning that everyone was going to get whatever they wished. A bit later, Keller’s own “Play This” flowed into “Pepper” by the Butthole Surfers. Another highlight was Williams’ “Breathe,” which found Larry kicking off Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” before segueing into Ryan Adams’ “Cold Roses” and back into “Breathe.” Larry Keel’s “Faster Horses” was a requested crowd favorite, and he also skillfully growled through his own “Culpepper Woodchuck.” The most exciting braid of the day was a mixture of the Grateful Dead’s “Loser” with Beck’s “Loser.” Keller’s unique form of social commentary (“Boob Job”) burned into Tom Petty’s “Last Dance with Mary Jane,” while the audience requested “Born to Be Wild” for the encore followed by Patterson Hood’s “Uncle Disney.” Most people wouldn’t be able to find enough close friends who intimately know and love the songs of one band, but this contest couldn’t have landed in the lap of a worthier crew. Dellinger commented that the hardest job for him was whittling down his friends to the permitted number, creating the perfect vibe for this limited access show of a lifetime.



Jeremy Sanchez
Relix Magazine, July/ August 2011, p. 18
reposted with permission