Home Jambase Happy Birthday Keller Williams: Keller Plays Dead

Happy Birthday Keller Williams: Keller Plays Dead

February 4, 2020

157

Today marks Keller Williams’ 51st birthday. Keller’s 51st falls six years after the Grateful Dead celebrated its 50th anniversary. But like many musicians in the jam scene and beyond, Williams has been celebrating the music of the Grateful Dead long before the fabled Fare Thee Well concerts.

Williams has never been bashful about his love for Grateful Dead music. The singer-songwriter founded a number of groups paying tribute to the legendary band, most notably with projects like Grateful Grass and Grateful Gospel. To celebrate Williams’ birthday, JamBase takes a look at five memorable times Keller has played Dead via the JamBase Live Video Archive (JBLVA).

!function ($) {

$(function(){ // document ready

$(‘.video-sticky’).stickybits(
{
stickyBitStickyOffset: getNavbarsHeight()
}
);

});

}(window.jQuery);

.video-content .panel-body {
padding-top:40px;
padding-bottom:40px;
}
.video-sticky {
z-index: 999;
background-color: #fcfcfc;
}
.honorable-mentions {
padding-left: 0;
margin-left: 1.375em;
}
.honorable-mentions li {
margin-bottom:5px;
}
.honorable-mentions .fa-li {
margin-top:-2px;
}

.video-summary-wrap table.glance-table.jambase-videos-songs-table{
background-color: #e2e8ef;
}

Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass – Scarlet Begonias

Speaking of Grateful Grass, an incarnation of the Grateful Dead bluegrass tribute — the band has always had a revolving door lineup — delivered a rendition of the Dead classic “Scarlet Begonias” on Friday, August 1 at the 2014 Gathering Of The Vibes Music Festival in Bridgeport Connecticut. The lineup included Keller, bassist Reed Mathis and the late great Jeff Austin on mandolin.

Scarlet Begonias	00:00:00

#jambase-tv-info-table tr:first-of-type > *{
border-top:none!important;
}
#jambase-tv-info-table tr:last-of-type > *{
padding-bottom:0;
}
#jambase-tv-info-table th{
padding-left:0;
width:65px;
}

Channel	Gathering of the Vibes (See 687 videos)
Band	Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass (See 10 videos)

!function ($) {

$(function(){ // document ready

$(‘.video-sticky’).stickybits(
{
stickyBitStickyOffset: getNavbarsHeight()
}
);

});

}(window.jQuery);

.video-summary-wrap table.glance-table.jambase-videos-songs-table{
background-color: #e2e8ef;
}

The Rhythm Devils – Samson & Delilah

Three years earlier at the 2011 Gathering Of The Vibes, Keller and Mathis took part in The Rhythm Devils, a supergroup that centered around Grateful Dead percussionists Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart along with guitarist and longtime Dead collaborator Steve Kimock. During their set at Vibes, the lineup performed the drum-heavy biblical favorite “Samson & Deliah.”

Samson and Delilah	00:00:00

#jambase-tv-info-table tr:first-of-type > *{
border-top:none!important;
}
#jambase-tv-info-table tr:last-of-type > *{
padding-bottom:0;
}
#jambase-tv-info-table th{
padding-left:0;
width:65px;
}

Channel	Gathering of the Vibes (See 687 videos)
Band	The Rhythm Devils (See 3 videos)

!function ($) {

$(function(){ // document ready

$(‘.video-sticky’).stickybits(
{
stickyBitStickyOffset: getNavbarsHeight()
}
);

});

}(window.jQuery);

.video-summary-wrap table.glance-table.jambase-videos-songs-table{
background-color: #e2e8ef;
}

Keller & The Kimocks – Eyes Of The World

Fast forward ahead three years, Steve Kimock along with drummer John Kimock (Steve’s son) joined Keller for a breezy version of “Eyes Of The World” during Jam Cruise 12, taking place January 4 – 9, 2014. Steve delivers his characteristic tasty guitar work while Keller adds some bubbling bass lines.

Eyes of the World	00:00:00

#jambase-tv-info-table tr:first-of-type > *{
border-top:none!important;
}
#jambase-tv-info-table tr:last-of-type > *{
padding-bottom:0;
}
#jambase-tv-info-table th{
padding-left:0;
width:65px;
}

Channel	Jam Cruise (See 13 videos)
Bands	Keller Williams (See 125 videos) , Steve Kimock (See 97 videos) and John Kimock (See 39 videos)

!function ($) {

$(function(){ // document ready

$(‘.video-sticky’).stickybits(
{
stickyBitStickyOffset: getNavbarsHeight()
}
);

});

}(window.jQuery);

.video-summary-wrap table.glance-table.jambase-videos-songs-table{
background-color: #e2e8ef;
}

Keller Williams’ Grateful Gospel – Brokedown Palace

In 2013, Keller floated the idea of Grateful Gospel to the organizers of LOCKN’ Festival as a Sunday act. Following the success of the LOCKN’ set, Keller brought Grateful Gospel — consisting of members of Keller’s Richmond, Virginia funk outfit More Than A Little and more — to the 2016 Northwest String Summit taking place at the famed Horning’s Hideout in Oregon. The band injected a little funk into the usually laid back Dead number, “Brokedown Palace.”

Brokedown Palace	00:00:00

#jambase-tv-info-table tr:first-of-type > *{
border-top:none!important;
}
#jambase-tv-info-table tr:last-of-type > *{
padding-bottom:0;
}
#jambase-tv-info-table th{
padding-left:0;
width:65px;
}

Channel	JamGrass TV (See 392 videos)
Band	Keller Williams’ Grateful Gospel (See 7 videos)

!function ($) {

$(function(){ // document ready

$(‘.video-sticky’).stickybits(
{
stickyBitStickyOffset: getNavbarsHeight()
}
);

});

}(window.jQuery);

.video-summary-wrap table.glance-table.jambase-videos-songs-table{
background-color: #e2e8ef;
}

Keller Williams (Solo) – Brown-Eyed Women

The aforementioned Fare Thee Well Grateful Dead 50th anniversary concerts in the summer of 2015 gave JamBase a chance to bring together a number of musicians from across the jam sphere and beyond to celebrate the music of the Grateful Dead. Dubbed Songs Of Their Own, the live video series saw artists covering the Dead at sites around the band’s hometown of San Francisco and beyond. One of Keller’s contributions was a solo acoustic version of the live classic “Brown-Eyed Women,” filmed at Phil Lesh’s Terrapin Crossroads. Interestingly, the Grateful Dead debuted “Brown-Eyed Women” almost 50 years ago on August 24, 1971, about a year and a half after Keller was born on February 4, 1970.

Brown-Eyed Women	00:00:00

#jambase-tv-info-table tr:first-of-type > *{
border-top:none!important;
}
#jambase-tv-info-table tr:last-of-type > *{
padding-bottom:0;
}
#jambase-tv-info-table th{
padding-left:0;
width:65px;
}

Channel	JamBase (See 146 videos)
Band	Keller Williams (See 125 videos)

[Originally Published: February 4, 2020]

.polartec-medium-promo {
margin-bottom: 30px;
}

.house-unit-wide { display: none; }
.house-unit-narrow{ display: block; }
@media (min-width: 768px) {
.house-unit-wide { display: block; }
.house-unit-narrow{ display: none; }
}