Live For Live Music caught up with Larry Keel for an interview preceding the upcoming Bridging the Music Presents Live at the Drive-In Concert Series, featuring: Larry Keel Experience and The Grass Is Dead on August 6th in Kings Mountain, NC. To get involved in street team marketing for the show via Blackspy Marketing, email info@blackspymarketing.com.
“I have been playing around North Carolina for 25 years, lots of friends and family and I’m just itching to get out there and play,” Keel said regarding this special show experience. “People love watching music on their TVs, so seeing it on a big screen live will be very special, I never thought I would [play at a drive-in],” added Keel.
During these crazy times many of us have been locked at home with no live music events to soothe our souls this summer. Most tours have been cancelled and Larry’s life has been affected as many of ours have. He and Keller Williams just released the well-received album Speed, which will not have a tour, “although there was a big tour scheduled,” Keel said.
However, this pandemic has not cancelled our lives (or music) completely, as many of us are finding new passions, or working on perfecting old ones. The great outdoors have been essential for Larry, as well as many of us, in preserving a positive attitude.
“I’ve been taking it easy so we can all get back to work, gardening, going fishing, and hiking the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s very satisfying growing, catching, and cooking your own food,” Keel said. As we spoke, Larry was getting his lures and poles together to go fishing along the Rappahannock River in Eastern Virginia for the day.
Keel has still been staying active in music these days too, “[I’ve been playing] mostly private events that are responsible for social distancing,” Keel said. He has also made use of the time to work on new music. “I wrote 10 new songs on banjo during quarantine, recorded them all at my house, and played all the instruments.”
The new album is almost mixed and close to the mastering process. Larry hopes the album will release in late September, but said “absolutely, 100 percent” when asked if we will hear some of the new album at the Drive-In show. “I am very proud of [the new album],” Keel said. In the meantime, you can support Larry by going to his website to purchase merch and music.
In addition to his own music, Keel has known The Grass is Dead for years, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he got out there to jam some Grateful Dead tunes with them. It will surely be a great feeling to have these two bands share their music on stage in a new and exciting way. “It’s pretty cool people figured this out so we can experience a really cool event,” Keel said.
Bridging the Music Presents: Live at the Drive-In Concert Series featuring Larry Keel Experience and The Grass Is Dead on August 6th in Kings Mountain, NC is the only concert of its kind in the area. It is sure to be a unique experience with new music that reflects our current state of affairs, as well as that old feeling of collective effervescence that we all receive from live music. Be sure to grab your tickets before they sell out here.
