All Roads Lead To Keller...

It happened completely by accident. Really. It was nearing close to sunrise, and the activity surrounding our campsite at Berkfest had dwindled down to what seemed like only us -- five or so of my friends and I. We had a tough choice to make.

Sleep or no sleep. Simple as that.

Yet, what was to come out of that simple decision was one of the greatest, most promising finds I've ever encountered. As we kept ourselves awake, we decided on a goal. A schedule for Sunday's performances stated that the first set of the day would be for Keller Williams at 10am. It was around 7am.

"Three hours till Keller!"

I had not even heard Keller before, really. Sure, I had heard of him, and I had caught a bit of his music during the Keller Incident set earlier Saturday (where the members of the String Cheese Incident had Keller up on stage to sing and play guitar along with them). Yet, I had not really been exposed to Keller's work whatsoever. To me, Keller Williams was a goal to be attained. I'd keep myself awake, despite how much I wanted to just crawl into my tent. I'd do it because I basically had to.

"Two hours, thirteen minutes till Keller!"
"I'll be front and center for Keller!"
"Front and center? Yeah, me too."
"What does Keller even sound like solo?"
-silence-
"Two hours, ten minutes till Keller!"

At around 9am or so, the campsite regained its busy atmosphere a bit, and soon our clan was trying to convince anyone and everyone who would walk by to join us for Keller's 10am set. Upon questioning and many raised eyebrows, we would tell people that we had been waiting all night. We figured that we would be the only ones there, cheering this poor, unknown guy on... that guy who had to play the early morning set.

"Eighteen minutes until Keller!"

We dragged our bodies to the little stage where Keller would perform, laughing all the way about how silly we were being; contemplating our sanity. As we approached the stage, I think only surprise came next.

The place was swarmed with excited, happy people. We pushed our way to the front row, and I was suddenly face-to-face with this entity we had built up in our minds. And he was stunning. I understood within minutes why so many of these people surrounding me were grinning the way they were. Keller Williams had a way of taking the audience under his complete and utter control -- using not only a meticulous talent for the guitar, but in every sense of the word, he was an entertainer. He was looping his own vocals while playing basslines. He'd run from instrument to instrument without skipping a beat. He was astounding.

I was back in the front row for the next local show I could possibly see.

--

Another surprise awaited me when I returned home, though.

I had looked through the Keller Williams website and found that one of the songs that Keller had done in the Berkfest set was actually a cover by an artist that my stepfather had listened to, David Wilcox. Within days, he was the owner of some Keller CDs, and he was instantly hooked. It was amazing. A new music link across generations. An absolute inspiration.

I should stay up late more often.

l-r: big Phil, me, and Rob enjoying the Keller Incident set at Berkfest.
photo by Mike MacNamara