“It’s all that I’ve done in my adult life, playing shows and making a living that way,” Williams said. “It’s just kind of what I do. I go away on the weekends, I come home during the week and I’m just really used to doing that and it’s kind of just how I’ve come to survive, that’s not only financially, but mentally, as well. I don’t really look at it as determination, I look at it as just life, that’s how I roll.”
Williams is set to play a solo show tonight at the Bluebird Nightclub.
Tickets for the show may be purchased online at the Bluebird website or at the door. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the show is set to ?begin at 9 p.m.
Although his most recent album was recorded with the Grateful Grass — one of many bands he plays with — Williams said his Bloomington show will implement his “one-man band” techniques.
“What you’ll get at a solo show for me is, basically is, every other song will be solo music,” Williams said. “Then every other song ... I’ll set up a drum loop, a bass loop, and guitar loops and pull them in and out. Nothing is prerecorded. Everything is live. We do that every other song, so it’ll be kind of a mixture.”
To create loops, Williams uses a BOSS RC-300 Loop Station to record his drum, bass and guitar, turning their sounds into loops.
He then layers recordings and can play them back, giving the effect of a full band, which is really only one man.
His unusual performances are what make him successful, according to a press release from his publicity firm.
“Keller Williams has never followed the prescribed path laid out by the conventional music business, but rather one of his own making,” the release said.
The show is part of his tour promoting his newest album with the Grateful Grass, “DOS.”
This album, released in August, is his second with the Grateful Grass and his third overall in support of the Rex Foundation, a group founded by the Grateful Dead.
“Keller has had a great impact on what we do,” the Rex Foundation’s Executive Director Cameron Sears said. “His generosity, through the release of his music and performance at some of our benefits, has raised a good chunk of money that we put to good use.”
Williams also carries that instinctual community understanding to his fans and to what he does in all aspects of his life, Sears said. “I really appreciate the fact that he embraces it as much as he does.”
Williams is an enthusiastic supporter of what the organization does and represents, Sears said. He has been from the very ?beginning.
Williams’ unconventional performances have drawn enthusiastic crowds to the Bluebird Nightclub in the past, owner David Kubiak said.
“It’s a really high-energy show and people always respond well to him,” Kubiak said. “He’s just a great guy, and we enjoy having him.”
“DOS” can be purchased on iTunes and at ? www.nugs.net .
