Last Friday night, November 27th, was the first of two special performances orchestrated by the Fredericksburg, VA native Keller Williams. Each show featured a stellar lineup of bluegrass notables, including Larry Keel (Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, Keller & The Keels) on guitar, Jason Carter (Del McCoury Band) on the fiddle, Cody Kilby (Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder) on dobro, Travis Book (The Infamous Stringdusters) on stand up bass, Chris Pandolfi (also from The Infamous Stringdusters) holding things down on the five-string banjo, and Keller Williams on mandola.
Cabinet kicked the night off with their fun roots/rock/bluegrass style of music. These guys can get down on traditional bluegrass, with some jams and soulful southern rock influences. The crowd was loving it, as the band proved more than ready to prime the audience for the onslaught of bluegrass to come.
Keller’s set had something for everybody in The National, whether you were a 60 year old bluegrass fan or a 90’s kid brought up on alternative rock. Early on, Keller and his band of misfits rocked out a cover of “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People, and, just a couple songs later, jammed out an amazing cover of the bluegrass hit “Why You Been Gone So Long.” Now that really brought the crowd alive!
The mixture of bluegrass standards, like “The Hobo Song” by John Prine (famously covered by Old & In The Way), and popular hits, like Cage the Elephant’s “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked,” proved to be a smashing success. They even performed a rendition of Sheryl Crow’s 1996 hit, “Everyday Is A Winding Road,” as well as choice selections of the Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil,” Butthole Surfers’ “Pepper,” Steppenwolf’s “Born To Be Wild,” and a finale of The Band’s “Cripple Creek.”
Check out a full gallery of photos, courtesy of Sam Shinault:
