Larry Keel Projects

KELLER WILLIAMS AND THE KEELS: Keller Williams and Larry Keel have known each other since their early years, growing up near Fredericksburg, Virginia, both playing in bands that frequently appeared on the same bill at local venues.  Later on, Keel appeared on Keller's "Buzz" CD along with fellow Bluegrass peers, Magraw Gap.  Since then, Keel has joined the stage with "K-Dub" on many occasions all over the country, with Keel's band fronting the sensational solo act that Keller has developed over the years. Most recently, Keller has brought Keel and bass-playing wife, Jenny, out for various tours nationwide, to present a more acoustic, "Bluegrassy" version of his own original tunes and of great covers of diverse music that all three players love in common.  The chemistry of this trio is special indeed, as anyone attending the "Keller and the Keels" shows can testify. Now the trio has recorded a studio album of some of the music they love, leaning heavily on Keller's original compositions, and with a good measure of humor and bold musicianship that makes the mix completely irresistible. 

BIG DADDY BLUEGRASS BAND is led by Acoustic Syndicate’s powerhouse singer and guitar player, Steve McMurry. He organized musicians playing primarily in Keel’s Experience to play shows and eventually record a studio project steered by McMurry’s wonderful talent for choosing unique and penetrating songs to play and sing, including his own masterful compositions. The band includes Larry Keel on guitar, Billy Constable on banjo, Jenny Keel on upright bass, Curtis Burch on Dobro- and Steve McMurry (Big Daddy himself) plays mandolin in this project. The CD came out in 2002, and the results of Bill Vorndick’s superb recording skills are evident once again. This project is simply wonderful.

KEEL BROTHERS consider that their music is deeply rooted in their father Jim Keel’s generation and his musical tastes, drawing on selections from the earliest Stanley Brothers, Hank Williams, Doc and Merle Watson, Classic Country Gentlemen, fiddle tunes and flatpicking guitar tunes and old ballads that were always a part of the weekly “jam sessions” of the Keels’ large circle of Bluegrass picker-friends. It was Larry’s older brother Gary (older by 12 years) who taught him to play the guitar at age 7, and bought him his first instrument. The “Keel Brothers” project is the long overdue glimpse into the fantastic family energy that launched young Larry into virtuoso playing by the age of 17.

BLUEBRASS PROJECT proves the similarities between two of America’s truest forms of roots music, New Orleans Jazz and Appalachian Bluegrass. Penned “Bluegrass meets the Big East”, the band features members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Rebirth Brass Band, Acoustic Syndicate, The Wild Magnolias, Larry and Jenny Keel, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Woody Wood, Jason Krekel, and Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews. In 2004, this diverse group of musicians released The Same Pocket, Vol. 1 and hosted a week long BlueBrass Summit in Asheville, NC with artists such as Bernie Worrell, Vassar Clements, Fred Wesley, and Curtis Burch, along with aspiring young musicians from New Orleans.

MAGRAW GAP is the band that started a lot of hype among young Bluegrass fanatics used to going to the wonderful Fiddlers Conventions and Bluegrass Festivals that are still such a part of the summer landscape up and down the Shenadoah Valley of Virginia and the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains down into North Carolina. Since the band’s indefinite hiatus, Larry has worked to encourage special reunion shows to bring the original quartet of Will Lee, Danny Knicely, John Flower and Larry Keel together for their unparalleled brand of ultra- progressive string band music.