Given that Keller Williams' albums feature one-syllable titles that roughly describe their contents, a look at his discography hints at the artist's aggressively nomadic nature. Over the past few years alone, there's a bluegrass covers album (Thief), family-friendly music (Kids), reggae dub funk (Bass), and this year's Pick, a bluegrass record with the Travelin' McCourys - featuring two sons of genre legend Del McCoury. And Williams is of course known for his solo show, in which he live-loops all the parts to become his own band.
"Although I have not been diagnosed, I would think there's an Attention Deficit Disorder that's in play here," Williams said in a recent phone interview. "And I mean that in the best possible way. I personally can't just focus on one genre of music without losing interest. ... It's very easy for me to play bass and reggae music with one group and the next day play guitar in a bluegrass band. It gives me the most joy to be able to do that. Too much of one thing, it could be bad, and I could slip into a rut where I'm just thinking about other things on stage. ... Once I play solo for many weeks in a row, I'm so ready to play with other people, and vice versa."
Despite keeping his schedule varied, band and solo settings have their frustrations. In solo shows, he said, "I think that thought kind of creeps in: I wish I could playing with other people, communicating without language. The camaraderie of bands ... is just incredible, and I often miss that. At the same time, ... [when playing with a band] sometimes I can't reach that level of energy that I can reach with my solo act."
But when Williams performs at River Roots Live on August 17 with the Travelin' McCourys, neither of those should be an issue. "The McCourys is a whole different ballgame," Williams said. "It's such a joy for me to be able to play with them, I don't think I've ever wanted to be anywhere else than up on stage with them at that time."
