About a month ago I had a chance to talk to Keller Williams via phone about his new album, this summer’s tour, his new bandmates, Bob Weir, the future, and everything in between. I believe he was walking around in the woods at the time as you’ll see in his first response. Throughout I’ve thrown in some pictures from his recent Urbana show at The Canopy Club on 04/25/2007. Check it out:

Kane Jamison: You’ve always been solo, other than some Keller Williams Incident shows, Keller and the Keels, the new album, Dream, and now the WMD’S tour. I was wondering what sparked the transition towards working with the full band more often.

Keller Williams: Well first and foremost it is definitely not a tour, we are just doing…. Whoa! There’s a snake… hello!… Uhhh… oh my god that’s a big snake right there, hang on just a second….

Ok… I’m just going to walk over here… Let’s see, we are just doing four festivals, four weekends in a row, that’s what we have right now. There is a possibility that one day there will be a tour, but as of right now we are just kind of playing it slow and playing it easy. I’m definitely excited about these festivals though. It’s kind of… I’ve always wanted to do the band projects, and a long long time ago there wasn’t really anything in the budget for it, you know? I just wasn’t able to afford it, the money wasn’t there, and it just wasn’t feasible to do it, and then all of a sudden, it just started to work as a solo act. And now I can afford it, and I’m really excited about it. It’s not going to be anything different, it’s not going to be a new sound, I’m not venturing out to look for something completely new, it’s going to be a lot of the similar songs, and it’s just going to be new life breathed into those familiar songs. It’s still going to be me, people are still going to see a Keller Williams show, it’s just going to have that new life breathed into it.

Kane: Alright, you said you were excited about the upcoming festivals. I personally am a Summer Camp fan being from Central Illinois. You’ve been a staple there in recent years, why that particular festival?

Keller: Simply because I get invited. There’s so many festivals that want to change it up so much and have acts every now and then, but I think it’s really great to be able to play a festival and go back there every year and see how it progresses and see the same folks. You know, it’s them that invite me, and I’m really grateful that they do.

(more…)

Just got off the phone with Keller Williams this morning for an interview that went quite well.  I have audio of the whole thing and you should see it up here in the next day or two.  Right now I’m off to Wrigley Field for the Cubs vs. Pirates game, in which Keller has predicted a home team win.  More on that later, hope everyone has a good Thursday.  Go Cubs!

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I’m fairly certain that in 20 years, these will be the jokes I will be making.

“I live under the sea honey… inside of a pineapple… Spongebob No Pants!”

Just picked up from LiveMusicBlog.com and Phish.net:

Trey Anastasio was arrested this morning for “DWI - Drugs,” “Third-Degree Aggravated Unlicensed Operation,” and “Seventh-Degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance.” [Phish.net]

Picture from SmokingGun.com.

I’m not sure what to say. I mean it was apparent that the guy had a prescription drug problem just from reading interviews that last few years, listening to recordings of the final 2004 tour, or a number or rumour-mills like PhantasyTour.org’s forums.

After listening to recordings and hearing reviews of the Fall 2006 tour he just finished though, and reading the most recent interviews, it sounded like the guy had his stuff together for the first time in awhile. He had set up a respectable band that the fans approved of for once, was playing great, and overall just seemed a lot happier at 10,000 Lakes Festival 2006 this last July than he did during the Fall 2005 Tour.

The full text from Phish.net:

Trey Anastasio was arrested at 3:30 this morning in Whitehall, NY, for “third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and DWI - drugs” (Burlington Free Press), mugshot and all.

He “was observed to be under the influence of a narcotic substance … had a suspended driver’s license in New York and allegedly was found with an assortment of prescription medications including hydrocodone, Percocet and Xanax, which were prescribed for another person” (Times Union).

Trey was driving a black 2004 Audi sedan when Whitehall Police Patrolman Andrew Mija observed him crossing into an opposing lane. Trey failed several field sobriety tests, but passed a breath test for alcohol. He reportedly told Mija that he’d smoked hash and consumed some prescription pills. His license had been suspended for not responding to an August 1998 ticket for driving 84 mph in a 65mph zone in Chester. (PostStar).

He was released to a friend, picked up his car from a towing company this morning (and drove off in it, despite the license suspension, according to the PostStar), and is scheduled to re-appeare on January 10th. (See also, WNYT.com.)

Several accounts quote his November 2005 interview discussing how the band let their guard down in 1998 about keeping “hard drugs” away. By that account, things not only degenerated to the point of a two-year (10/7/00 - 12/31/02) hiatus, but became worse afterwards, resulting in the band’s 2004 breakup.

Further Coverage:

TheSmokingGun.com
Phish.net
LiveMusicBlog.com
Burlington Free Press
The Post-Star
Times Union
WNYT

Today just got a lot more depressing.

…Can you still have fun?

Just ran across a good article written by David Steinberg (of ZZYZX Stat Fame) for jambands.com back in August of this year. Here’s the link to the full article, and a segment that I liked most:

“One of the great things about the jambands scene has always been the lack of judgment. As long as you’re not hurting anyone or affecting their ability to enjoy the show, what does it matter how they are dressed or what they’re doing. One of my favorite tour activities was always to take someone to their first show and have them see a gathering of people who were trying to have as much fun as possible.

Go on. Dress up in weird clothes. Find a spot with no people around and perform cool hula hoop tricks. Create little skits to perform in the parking lot or during the set break. Throw confetti at appropriately timed spots. While the main focus will always be on the music, a creative crowd can help turn a mediocre show into a great time and a great show into a life changing experience. If someone else has a problem with that, that’s their issue. If they mess with you, they’ll have to answer to me!”