A one-man band often brings to mind a sweaty street circus musician caged within a garbage heap of instruments.
Keller Williams, contrary to the squeezebox-pumping, monkey-on-shoulder stereotype, is able to manipulate as many as eight instruments without becoming light-headed or doused in perspiration.
The artist, set to perform this Saturday at the Center for the Arts, creates an audio ruckus by nonchalantly fusing together beat boxing, finger picking, folk, lounge, techno music, and other varieties of sound that the average music snob would not be able to name.
Keller Williams' guitar playing is reminiscent of Tim Reynolds' babbling style with B?(c)la Fleck's intricacy. He has Beck's versatility, Nickel Creek's genteel charm and Rusted Root's charisma.
"Expect solo acoustic jazz, funk, reggae, techno, grass," Williams said. "Expect to hear songs you've never heard before."
His newest album "Grass" was released with the help of Mr. and Mrs. Keel, an acoustic guitar- and bass-playing couple. The album sticks to the sound of bare-bone bluegrass Americana that is made complete by the naked sound of flat-picking and harmonization. Despite the one-sidedness of this particular album, Williams is notorious for dabbling in many other genres of music.
His daunting 11-album discography, plus one in the oven, covers a broad range of styles. His album "Laugh," released in 2002, features a song called "Freeker by the Speaker" that eagerly samples bluegrass, jam band and electronica with just a smidge of trance, whereas his 2003 release "Home," relies more heavily on beat boxing and use of his mouth flugel - basically the act of making trumpet noises with one's mouth.
Thanks to his Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro, Williams is also able to assemble an arsenal of sound with the tap of his foot. Even though switching instruments so frequently may feel like spinning plates, his generous use of looping allows him enough time to build a solid song right in front of his audience with fluidity and poise.
Williams' livelihood revolves around performances. His motives for recording music are sentimental. He likens recording to keeping a diary.
"I record records to document the music I've written and the songs I love," he said. "I record records so I can listen to them when I'm old."
Williams has been arduously working on his up-and-coming release "Youth," which relies heavily on other musicians. He said that he is "collaborating with all kinds of folks I consider my heroes, who share a similar vision of what music is."
Although by the definition of a one-man band, Williams is largely self-sufficient, he is collaborating with handpicked musicians whose talents he feels complement his own. "Youth" will showcase artists like Martin Sexton, the String Cheese Incident, Charlie Hunter, Victor Wooten, Fareed Hauque, Steve Kimock and John Mollow.
"I'm very comfortable in the solo spectrum," Williams said, "but I'm not restricted to solo playing."
Keller Williams will be performing at the CFA at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20. He has music posted on his site,
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
