Keller Williams to plays for kids & grown-ups at LIG

Call him anything. If you’re like many people, you might call Keller Williams “quirky”. The self-taught multi-instrumentalist has recorded albums of bluegrass, reggae, dubstep, jam music, house and, well, just about everything except for an opera.

It’s only natural that a kids album would be part of that mix. Like fellow “quirky” musicians They Might Be Giants and Ellis Paul, Williams has made a very listenable childrens album – cleverly titled Kids – full of songs that are fun for grown-ups, too.

Williams will be playing songs from Kids on both days of the Life is good Festival this weekend in Canton, and his is a show not to be missed. We asked Keller how the idea for Kids came about and what fans have to look forward to this weekend and in the months to come.

Boston Music Spotlight (BMS): What inspired to write a kids album? Did you write a lot of these songs recalling your own childhood?

Keller Williams (KW): A lot of the inspiration came from a record called Not for Kids Only by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman. At the time I got that, I was collecting anything and everything that The Grateful Dead would put out. But it showed me how to connect with kids and parents at the same time. The idea was just to connect with children while letting the parents connect on the kids’ level as a peer instead of talking down to them – while at the same time having the parents be able to nod their heads along. “Lucy Lawcy” is the story of a turkey that lives on our land by our house. My daughter named the turkey, so, that’s kind of a true story. “Grandma’s Feather Bed” is a cover; I learned that version of that song from John Denver. “Horseback Rider” – my daughter wrote that one; she made that one up.

BMS: I’m assuming that’s your daughter singing along with you on most of the tracks?

KW: Yeah – she was four then; she’s almost seven now. I’m so grateful that I got her in the studio singing when I did, because it was the perfect time.

BMS: That must have been really cool for you.

KW: It was really cool. It would probably be a whole lot different if I were to take her in now; she was so uninhibited then. She’s a little bit older now – it’s amazing what a couple years will do to a kid’s personality. My son is three, and so I feel like I should do a couple songs with him, too, just to make it fair. This could be an idea for another record just for the simple fact of getting him to sing on it too, so he doesn’t feel left out.

BMS: Given that you’re a dad, and with this latest album, The Life is good Festival seems like a natural fit for you. How excited are you to be performing?

KW: It’s really cool to be involved in something like that. The coolest thing is to have my kids with me at this festival and to be able to take them around and see music and have a great time. I’m very grateful to be included in the lineup.

BMS: What can audiences expect? Will it be a kids show?

KW: Yeah, the record’s 31 minutes long, and I think I have a 45-minute time slot, so there are definitely a few songs I won’t be playing off the record. A few things will be stretched, but I’ll be having a good time, playing a few other different songs that are not on the record [as well].

BMS: Kids is your sixteenth album. Is it your favorite? Do you have a favorite?

KW: Yeah, I have a couple of favorites. The two favorites that I have are a record called Dream, and that was recorded with my heroes and it’s very much a collaborative record with a whole bunch of folks that I think are very famous – at least in my world. And there’s a DJ remix record that I did called Dance. Those two are my favorites – those are the ones out of all the records that I actually put on and listen to.

BMS: You say you’re a music lover first, so something like Dream must be like a meta mixtape for yourself.

KW: Yes. Dream was a very, very, very surreal experience. It took about three years to complete from start to finish. Not that I was working on it every day for three years! During that time, I released a DVD and the first bluegrass record, called Grass. The folks that I asked to be part of [Dream] – if they did not say “no”, I just kind of waited until the time was right. Sometimes there was a year-and-a-half between takes! I would do my part, and then send it to a bass player; then the bass player would send it to a drummer… for example, there was Victor Wooten. I would do my [guitar] part first, then send it off to Jeff Sipe for drums; and then I sent those takes to Victor Wooten [for bass]. And then a month later I got it back with guitar, bass and drums. And then I wanted Bela Fleck on the record, and it took about a year… a year later we had a finished track. It was bizarre and it took a lot of patience, and if they said, “No, I’m not interested,” then I would move on – I wouldn’t push it. But if they didn’t say “no”, I would just wait.

BMS: The musicians you had on Dream are all over the map, genre-wise, as you are. I think critics get lazy and call your stuff “quirky” because they don’t really know how to classify your sound. How would you describe your music?

KW: Well, my solo performance – I’ve kind of narrowed it down to “acoustic dance music”. Dance music is different all around the world. It’s rooted in solo acoustic singing-songwriting, but every other song there’s massive amounts of technology that’s incorporated with nothing being pre-recorded – everything is recorded and performed right there on stage. So, when I say “dance music”, I’m digging in to the more current American dance music, but using acoustic instruments and also dipping into different kinds of electronics.

BMS: You use an effects pedal when you perform live that allows you to loop yourself over and over…

KW: It’s a thing called “live phrase sampling” or looping. I hit the button, play something or sing something, hit the button at the right time and it repeats what I just sang or played. Then I can layer on top on that. I can create a full band sound without anything being pre-recorded.

BMS: So, as I’ve seen you described elsewhere, you are really like a “one-man jam band”. Do you feel that title fits?

KW: You can’t really go out and say, “I’m a jam band.” You are decided by the jam audience if you are that or not. I personally never called myself that, but I’ve been called lots of things, like “quirky” or “alternative folk music” or “jam band” or “novelty” or whatever. As long as people keep coming to the shows, I don’t really mind whatever they call me – they can call me whatever they want. Just call me something – just call me!

BMS: So, what’s next for you? I know you’re touring like crazy.

KW: I have a record called Bass, and I’m hoping it comes out in December. We’re kind of rushing it; we recorded it this summer, it’s kind of a reggae-funk-dub trio record with me on bass and my friend Jay Starling on keys and my friend Mark D on drums. And there’s no guitar on the record; it’s a very reggae-dub-funk type of record with me on bass. I’m hoping it comes out in December, so look for that.

Keller Williams will be performing at the Life is good Festival on Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. on the Good Kids Stage. Tickets for the 2011 Life is good Festival are now on sale through the festival’s official website. Two-day passes are available for $120, while single-day tickets are $65. Two-day passes for children ages 2-12 are available for $35, while single-day tickets are $20. Children 2 and under will be admitted free of charge.