Keller Williams & Leftover Salmon - Chicago New Years Run & 2015 KW Tour Dates

Keller Williams - Photo Credit: C. Taylor Crothers

Keller Williams first appeared on the music scene in the 1990's and has steadily redefined what it means to be an independent artist. Throughout his career, Keller has built a reputation for putting on engaging live performances - none of which are ever alike - and quickly became the stuff of legend with his extraordinary improvisation skills. 16 recordings into his career, his audience continues to grow exponentially, with work quickly spreading of this exciting and unpredictable performer.

The Fredericksburg, Virginia native is often referred to as a one-man jam-band because of his frequent use of live looping tools while utilizing multiple instruments throughout his performances. Recently Keller has been touring with his six-piece funk outfit, More Than a Little. This December 30th, Keller will take over The Vic in Chicago with More Than a Little by his side to get the funk down with another legendary jam-band group, Leftover Salmon - a Boulder, Colorado six-piece musical machine that produces nothing awesome tunes for the consumption of your hungry ears. On the 31st, Keller will be playing one of his legendary solo shows while helping Leftover Salmon celebrate their 25th anniversary with Bill Payne at their side. These musicians are always on a quest for something new and have ever followed the path laid out by the conventional music business, and this is a path that has served them well. Don't miss your chance to see this legendary acts ring in the new year in the legendary Vic in historic Chicago, Illinois. Tickets can be found HERE, for the 30th, and HERE for the 31st. We hope to see you there!

Check out his upcoming tour dates below:

Leftover Salmon - Photo Credit: Josh Timmermans

December 26 SPCA Benefit at Old Silk Mill Fredericksburg  VA

Keller Williams with More Than A Little 

December 27 Theatre of the Living Arts Philadelphia PA

Keller Williams with More Than A Little 

December 30 - The Vic Theatre Chicago IL with Leftover Salmon // More Than A Little on 12/30

December 31 The Vic Theatre Chicago IL with Leftover Salmon and Keller Solo on 12/31 

January 16 Irving Plaza New York NY Keller Williams with More Than A Little w/ That 1 Guy

January 17 Stone Pony Asbury Park NJ Keller Williams with More Than A Little w/ That 1 Guy

January 22 The Capitol Theater Clearwater FL 

January 23 Plaza Live Orlando FL 

January 24 Revolution Live Ft. Lauderdale FL 

January 29 Belly Up Solana Beach CA with The Motet

January 30 The Roxy Los Angeles CA with The Motet

January 31 Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas NC with The Motet

February 5 Arcata Theater Arcata, CA with The Motet

February 6 Fillmore Auditorium San Francisco CA with The Motet

February 7 Crystal Bay Club Auditorium Crystal Bay NV with The Motet

February 13 The Connection Snoweshoe WV 

February 19 Harvester Performance Center Rocky Mt VA  

February 20 Birchmere Alexandria VA 

February 27 - Monday, March 2 DSO Jam in the Sand Negril 

Grateful Grass Ft. Keller Williams, Vince Herman, Sam Grisman & Allie Kral plus Keller & His Compadres & Keller Williams Solo 

March 5 McDonald Theatre Eugene OR with co-headliners The Infamous Stringdusters  

March 6 The Showbox Seattle WA with co-headliner The Infamous Stringdusters 

March 7 Wonder Ballroom Portland OR with co-headliner The Infamous Stringdusters

March 22 Suwannee Springfest Live Oak FL Keller Williams with The Travelin’ McCourys 

April 3 - Saturday, April 4 Alyseka Resort @ The Sitzmark Bar & Grille Girdwood AK 

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Keller Williams starring More Than A Little w/Jon Wayne and The Pain - "What The Funk Tour" @ The District - Sioux Falls, SD - (2/24/14)

MTAL Summer Camp Victor Wooten (credit: Brian Spady)

A Review By: Troy Manley

Keller Williams is from Fredericksburg, Virginia and if often described as a one-man jam-band because of his frequent use of live looping and multiple instruments during performances. Williams hit the road for a semi-national tour of the United States with his band, More Than A Little, in support of their most recent album, FUNK. Luckily for South Dakotans Keller made a pit stop on the "What The Funk Tour" at The District. The District opened its doors to Sioux Falls residents in the Fall of 2013, and has a capacity around 1,500. The venue is in the parking lot of the Sioux Empire Mall - which happens to be the largest single story mall in America - just off Interstate i-29. The District sports a fairly large standing area with a balcony with some more general admission space and a couple VIP booths. The stage is easily viewable from all parts of the floor; they unfortunately had the balcony closed for the night.

Starting things off for the night was Minneapolis based reggae, rock, and dub band with definite jam and EDM influences, Jon Wayne and the Pain. The group maintains a unique psychedelic reggae sound in their self-described "Reggae-Tronic Dub" by blending traditional styles of reggae-rock with bass heavy sections of electronic dub.  This trio has played an average of 20 shows a month over the past 4 years, playing venues and festivals across the country in support of their three full length albums. While living the dream may sound like a cake-walk, these guys poured their heart and soul into their performance at the District and the crowd was doing the same right back. Highly recommend checking these dudes out if they come anywhere remotely close to you in the future!

Jon Wayne and The Pain

Once the set break concluded and I had time to put the pieces of my brain back together, Keller came on for a brief 45-minute solo set consisting of looping and sampling for the handful of instruments that accompanied him on stage. After playing through a majority of his set, he invited Gerard Johnson to come on stage and take over the keyboards, he was followed by DJ Shaw on bass, Toby Fairchild on drums, and Tonya Lazenby Jackson and Sugah Davis helping out with vocals. Once they were on stage, Keller disappeared for a couple minutes only to reappear having ditched his casual attire for a suit and tie.  

MTAL (credit: Roger Gupta)

The group played through a majority of their album, FUNK, which consists of 10 songs; 6 of which are covers ranging from Rick James to the Grateful Dead, from Talking Heads to Flight of the Conchords. In an interview with hottesttune, Keller said the name of the band "came from the feelings he got the first time he played with this group. He was more than a little happy, more than a little inspired. And of course, the group is 'more than a little funky.'" Down-right funky is how I would describe the events that transpired on stage that magical night at The District. Keller & More Than a Little played with the utmost precision throughout the night as Williams was directing members of the band to play extended jams with each other while effortlessly moving between tracks. Gospel infused funk turned The District into a church of heavenly tunes for all those down with the get down to get down.  Hands down one of the best funk shows I have ever seen, I cannot encourage all you beautiful people enough to make it to a stop on this tour.  Pick up FUNK through Keller's site, HERE.

All Photos of MTAL taken from Keller William's official website gallery, HERE. 

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