Ping-ponging across the stage, juggling instruments of all shapes and sizes, beatboxing, whistling, clapping. Imagine a way, any way, to produce a sound and Keller Williams does it.

‘Thank you for coming to the freak show,’Williams sang to the audience.

The musical acrobat performed at the Westcott Theater on Friday night to a sold-out crowd of more than 700, said Casey Jared, box office manager.

Williams performed for nearly three hours, playing his well-known hits like ‘One Hit Wonder’and ‘Mental Instra’from the album ‘Laugh’and playing covers like Sublime’s ‘Scarlet Begonias’and Cee Lo Green’s ‘F**k You.’The crowd passionately sang along to the lyrics of ‘Freeker by the Speaker,’but it sang even louder during Williams”Gate Crashers Suck’as he played the piano.

Center stage, Williams sang sweetly into a microphone while enthusiastically strumming the guitar wrapped around his chest. An electric bass and guitar were both perched on stands. Every so often, he would pick up an instrument, whether it was another guitar, bells or plastic tubes. He would record a sound and replay it to create melodic strains in perfect sync.

After a momentary set break, Shawn ‘Skip’Philippon, bassist of local classic and blues-rock band Dirty Work, stepped onstage to perform with Williams, a friend of Philippon’s. Philippon had promoted Williams in the ‘90s and invited him to perform at Old Parochial League, a bar in Syracuse, in 2000.

Philippon and Williams performed ‘Kidney in a Cooler’and Grateful Dead’s ‘Deep Elem Blues,’which ended with a transition back into the first song.

‘I had a great time playing with Keller,’Philippon said. ‘I thought I could have played better, but don’t we always think that.’

A native of Fredericksburg, Va., Williams is a self-taught musician who single-handedly plays a variety of instruments at his performances. He frequently shares the stage with notable musicians like Larry and Jenny Keel, The Rhythm Devils, The String Cheese Incident and Umphrey’s McGee.

Keller takes ‘one-man band,’as described by Josh Reiner of Rochester, N.Y., to a whole new level.

‘He’s doing really novel things because he’ll pull out these plastic tubes, and he’ll bang them on his knees and then record that loop, and he’ll pick up his guitar and play over that,’Reiner said. ‘He layers sounds that way, creating cool polyrhythms.’

Williams produces music with the help of a soundboard and multiple foot pedals, simultaneously manipulating a medley of melodies. Because Williams refuses to commit to a single genre, others have a difficult time describing his music.

‘You can’t pinpoint it because he’s so diverse,’said Patrick Marikos, a Rochester, N.Y., native. ‘He plays many different styles. Anywhere from soft solo acoustics to reggae, bluegrass to funk and beyond. He’s all over the place.’

Having attended nearly 50 shows, Marikos describes himself as Williams’biggest fan.

‘I say I’m the biggest until I meet someone that’s a bigger fan,’he joked. 

Marikos is not alone in his passion for Williams’music.

 

‘I love Keller Williams,’said Anna Gustafson, a Syracuse artist. ‘He’s my favorite music to hula-hoop to because he changes up tempo and pulse. It’s fun and happy and light, just reminds me of summer.’

Hula-hoop dismantled and sticking out of her backpack, Gustafson did not have space for the activity during the show.

‘I should’ve known this would sell out,’she said.

Marikos saw Williams perform in Rochester the previous night, traveled to Syracuse solely to see his idol and followed him to Albany on Saturday.

‘Everyone has their thing,’Marikos said. ‘Keller is my thing.’

gmsarzyn@syr.edu

Published on October 9, 2011 at 12:00 pm