Life is Music™

photo courtesy of Trampled by Turtles

Born from the Superior shores of Duluth, MN, Trampled by Turtles have gained tremendous momentum since their inception as a band back in 2003. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, with each new show and each new album, the fan base grows exponentially. The band now spans out far past the Midwest, playing shows in wonderful venues all across the United States, Canada, and even Europe. But no matter where they are, Trampled by Turtles does not forget their humble beginnings in Minnesota and the fans that helped them attain their modern success.

Original members Dave Simonett, Dave Carroll, and Erik Berry started Trampled by Turtles as a novelty side act to their respective rock bands, but as circumstances would have it, Trampled by Turtles wasn’t ready to play second fiddle to any band.

Singer and guitarist, Dave Simonett, explained the origins of the band in a recent telephone interview, “Well three of us started the band, that’s Eric Berry, Dave Carroll and myself. None of us had ever really played bluegrass before, or this style of acoustic music but we were really getting into it. We’d been playing rock music before, and this band was started as an acoustic side project to those bands. But as time went on, all those bands split and this band was all that was left. I was dead broke and left with just my acoustic guitar, after someone stole my electric guitar and my amp while loading out gear after the last show with my previous band. And like I said, the other bands were gone, and all my gear was gone, so this just naturally happened.” An escalating amount of fans across the country are grateful for that.

One of the most memorable moments for the band in the last year was playing the main stage and the seventh annual 10,000 Lakes Festival in Detroit Lakes, MN. Their growth at this fantastic festival precisely represents their evolution as a band and the direction they are headed in the future. After starting on the small saloon stage in 2004, then growing to the festival’s barn stage in 2006 and 2007, then finally playing for fans as far as the eyes could see on the main stage in 2009, the band has come full circle. “That was a blast!” Simonett said proudly. “That was really something that was so exciting for all of us.”

With a new management team on board, Trampled by Turtles have a tour schedule full of larger venues including the recently announced Stagecoach Festival next April in California. But don’t expect these larger shows to start going to their heads, “We spend enough time packed into a little van and staying on people’s floors to stay grounded.” Dave said when asked if there was a definitive moment that made him realize the band was getting big and he could make a career out of music. “As far as making a career out of it, that was something that I knew personally before I even made my first dollar. Playing music is what I always wanted to do. Before we even started touring or selling any albums, we made that decision to see if we could do it.”

This quintet from Duluth has come a long way with their unique take on bluegrass music and their live show is not to be missed. Seated in chairs, the band bangs out enough raw energy to part the sea and if a listener is brave enough to stand in their way, the music will surely shroud every last bit their being. Their music is as much rock as it is folk, as much metal as it is bluegrass, but one thing it definitely is not, is lacking in sheer power. When asked what part of the country gets the rowdiest at their shows, Simonett responded with a laugh, “Probably the Midwest, but it really depends on where we are playing.”

With four albums under their belts and a new and currently untitled release due out next April, Trampled by Turtles are on a mission to spread their music far and wide. Currently they are doing just that, one unassuming step at a time with fans ever-enthusiastic holding on in the wake of the flood.

Who: Trampled by Turtles
Where: The Aquarium
When: Friday, November 20th
Cost: $15, 21+

Written for High Plains Reader in Fargo, ND for their November 19th, 2009 issue.

photo by: C. Taylor Crothers

Keller Williams is a music lover first and a musician second. The truth behind that statement is especially evident when one sees him perform live in concert. This singer and multi-instrumentalist, who made his mark on music by being one of the most creative and entertaining performers on the jam band scene, continuously tries to put himself in the shoes of his listeners as he invents and reinvents everything he does. And most impressively, what he does onstage he does alone.

Growing up in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Williams was immersed in music at an early age. He sang in the church choir in first grade and by the time middle school came around he was performing in musical theater. In 1986 when he was sixteen he took his first gig with his guitar in hand. Dressed in a jacket and tie he played for tips on the back patio of a small restaurant in Fredericksburg.

“I played for dinner and tips and was doing all the covers I thought people wanted to hear at that time which was the Eagles and James Taylor and the stuff like that.” Williams said in a recent phone interview. ” I was seeing these solo acts play at little lounges at these ski resorts, and that was my goal, to be that dude in the corner.”

Williams put the tires to the pavement and in time easily surpassed that modest goal. Putting his life into the music, there were many years that Williams played over two hundred shows as he lived out of his van with his wife who ran the merchandise and helped manage the operation. That hard work paid off as today Keller Williams fills theaters, clubs and festival grounds with fervent fans that continuously return for more.

Standing barefoot on stage Williams loops from guitar, to bass, to percussion to vocals and before a song is over he’s a one-man band. And if a horn is needed, Williams can play that too, but he does so rather untraditionally with just his mouth and no tangible instrument. “A flugal is what I call it.” Williams said laughing. “The older I get it seems the less higher notes I can hit with it, so maybe I’m sliding down into more of the trombone area.” The real charm though in Williams’ music, is in his story telling lyrics that oftentimes flow from being beautifully sincere to downright hilarious.

As a uniquely creative artist whose concerts can sometimes feel like a flight of the imagination, Keller’s music jumps back and forth through genres then back again leaving it easy to throw him into the jam band ring. Yet it isn’t that he necessarily “jams” so much, but the music he creates defies boundaries that limit so much of today’s popular music. When asked if he saw any negatives for long being associated with the jam band scene, Williams was swift to reply, “I’ve done this for so long that I’ve seen some ups and some downs of this music business and to be put into any kind of class, I feel very grateful. You can call me whatever you want but I definitely don’t see any negatives about the jam band scene. I have lots of friends and lots of fans in the scene and it’s a super positive thing. Anyone who thinks differently is thinking too hard about it.”

photo by: C. Taylor Crothers

Through these years Williams has been busy releasing albums and if one were to judge an album by its cover, his fourteenth release, “Odd”, may induce assumptions of dragon-slaying fantasy rock. But after a few spins his creative brilliance is clear and quite extraordinary. Even more than his previous works, “Odd” bends through everything from folk, to jazz, to techno, to reggae, to rock and it does so with such ease that there is no reason to question it.

When asked why he titled the latest record, “Odd”, Williams explained, “I always want to try and sum up the vibe of my whole record with one syllable. Odd was perfect because I guess I gave myself some odd writing assignments like trying to write a bluegrass science fiction song, or taking on the role of Dr. Doolittle and talking to the rodents and animals who seem to meet their death around my house and to try and warn them. And there’s a whole oddness to how the record flows as far as the genres and its mystic feel. I figured it was only appropriate.”

That’s Keller Williams in a nutshell. This modest man has made his name by doing things his way. His approach to music is easy to distinguish as his songs bounce through the world with no remorse as if to simply say, this is music.

Who:  Keller Williams
When:  Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 – 7:30 PM
Where:  Fargo Theatre
Cost:  $24, all ages

Written for High Plains Reader in Fargo, ND for their October 15th, 2009 issue.