AN INTERVIEW WITH KELLER WILLIAMS

Photo by Matt UrbanBy Michael Lello

Keller Williams is known as the one-man band extraordinaire of the jam-band world.  But that doesn’t make him a one-trick pony.  This spring and summer alone, he’s not only taking his acclaimed solo show on the road but also performing with two of his other myriad projects, Keller with the Travelin’ McCourys and More Than A Little.

While each situation provides a different creative outlet for Williams, the solo show – which he brings to the River Street Jazz Café on Friday, June 14 --  provides a certain level of freedom, both musically and logistically.

“Absolutely,” Williams said in a recent phone interview with Highway 81 Revisited.  “It’s small- scale. We’re able to go fast and get to different places and play different time zones in a weekend.  And it’s very freeing.  There’s a certain kind of freedom I have as a solo act, too.  There’s no real decision making, at least on stage.  I can pretty much go anywhere, the freedom to go anywhere and play anything is there, and that’s a real joy.  And I love playing with bands, but we’re limited to the material we know and there’s certain improvisations, but [in the solo show there’s] a lot more choices and songs to chose from.” 

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DOWNLOAD NEW TEDESCHI TRUCKS TRACK

Tedeschi Trucks Band will release its third album, “Made Up Mind,” on Aug. 20, and below you can stream and download one of its songs, “Part of Me."

Co-produced by Jim Scott (Johnny Cash, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Wilco) and Derek Trucks, “Made Up Mind” was recorded in the band's home base of Jacksonville at Derek and Susan Tedeschi’s Swamp Raga Studios.  

In addition to the husband-wife team at its helm, the Tedeschi Trucks Band also features Kofi Burbridge (keyboards, flute), Tyler Greenwell (drums, percussion), J.J. Johnson (drums, percussion), Kebbi Williams (saxophone), Maurice Brown (trumpet), Saunders Sermons (trombone & vocals), Mike Mattison (harmony vocals) and Mark Rivers (harmony vocals).  This is the band’s first recording since the departure of bassist and Trucks’ Allman Brothers Band cohort Oteil Burbridge.  Rather than replace him immediately, the group has utilized the services of several bass players on the album (Pino Palladino, Bakithi Kumalo, George Reiff and Dave Monsey), and has been rotating bassists at their gigs as well.

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AN INTERVIEW WITH CHEAP TIME

By Michael Lello

Tennessee punk/glam/garage (and you could probably add a few more slashes and adjectives) group Cheap Time are currently on tour with Social Distortion, but on Wednesday – an “off day” – the group will perform at The Crimson Lion Hookah Lounge in Wilkes-Barre. 

It’s a band that prefers to keep moving, filling in its schedule with tour dates rather than taking much-needed breaks, and delving into new material rather than squeezing mileage out of previous tunes.  In fact, Cheap Time main man Jeffrey Novak tells us the songs on last year’s “Wallpaper Music” already “have run their course for us,” so expect a healthy dose of yet-to-be-released tunes at Wednesday’s show.

Like “Wallpaper Music,” the upcoming album, “Exit Smiles,” is set for a September release on In The Red Records, which has released records by Jay Reatard, Vivian Girls, King Khan & BBQ Show, Sparks, Cheater Slicks and more.   Last year, Cheap Time also put out a live 7-inch on Jack White’s Third Man Records.  And on the solo front, Novak has another record in the hopper which will follow “Baron In The Trees,” which he released earlier this year.

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CONCERT REVIEW: TOM KEIFER AT BREWS BROTHERS WEST

By Michael Lello

LUZERNE, Pa. – Anyone that assumed Tom Keifer is simply living on his past successes would’ve been proved gravely wrong if they turned up at Brews Brothers West Sunday night, where the Cinderella singer performed a set that was rooted in classic rock but nonetheless teemed with vitality.

Touring in support of his first-ever solo album “The Way Life Goes,” Keifer and his band hit the stage a little after 10:30 p.m. and launched into “Sick For The Cure” from Cinderella’s “Heartbreak Station” album.  Keifer played high-energy slide guitar, and his trademark vocals were powerful immediately recognizable.  After noodling around on a little blues guitar lick, Keifer asked the crowd, “Are you read to get loud out there?”  He led his band into “Ain’t That A Bitch,” a track from the new album steeped in the down-and-dirty blues-rock of old-school Aerosmith.  Next up was another “The Way Life Goes” tune, the poppy “In A Different Light.”  

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ALBUM REVIEW: JIMMY EAT WORLD -- "DAMAGE"

By Michael Lello

Seven albums into its career, Jimmy Eat World has developed a formula:  driving rhythms, with occasional syncopation; crystalline, clanging guitars; and impassioned lyrics and vocals that frequently raise songs to anthem level without resorting to teenage pop-punk cliches.

Jimmy Eat World’s seventh album, “Damage,” is a breakup album that hews close to the band’s successful formula, and while Jim Adkins and company again tackle emotionally sensitive themes, they avoid the tired cheese that has befallen many of their peers.  This is an adult album about adult issues, but shot through with youthful energy.

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