Being kind: A conversation with Larry Keel
Larry Keel will play Highlands Nov. 9. File photo
When it comes to bluegrass guitar pickin’-n-grinnin’ — hell, acoustic guitar playing, in general — one name high atop the mountain of whirlwind notes and pure musical talent is Larry Keel.
A Virginia native, Keel has called the southwestern corner of the state home for decades. Residing in the depths of the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley, Keel meanders up and down the spine of Interstate 81 to innumerable gigs across the country — from backwoods front porches to the bright lights of big city stages.
From a very young age, Keel was exposed to the intricate layers and sonic prowess of bluegrass and mountain music. Between the lyrical honesty and the sheer power and grace one can harness on an instrument made up of just wood and wire, Keel found deep solidarity and passion for string music through his guitar.
That thirst for musicianship is something that’s brought the singer-songwriter great acclaim and respect in the industry throughout the years. Most notably, taking home first place at the prestigious Telluride Bluegrass Festival guitar competition twice (1993, 1996). Since the late 1990s, his group, the Larry Keel Experience, has been a mainstay within the bluegrass and jam-band festival circuits.
Now 55, Keel remains steadfast and hungry on this eternal quest for melodic knowledge, curious adventure, purposeful connectivity and genuine fellowship through the universal language of music.
Smoky Mountain News: When was the first time you were aware of what bluegrass was?
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Larry Keel: My father was a banjo and a guitar player. My brother played guitar and sang some. So, they were always going to festivals in the region — Old Fiddler’s Convention [in Galax, Virginia], playing dance halls and firehouses. And they had a lot of friends that played music. I just sort of grew up around it.
SMN: Having that influence early on, what is it about that genre of music that keeps you in it?
LK: Well, it’s the story of our people. The people in the mountains, hardships and good times, the lives they lived. And it will always be in me. I can try to run away from it or whatever and cover a Bob Marley tune or Jimi Hendrix tune, but it’s still there. You can’t hide it. You can run, but you can’t hide. [Laughs].
SMN: And you can’t hide behind anything onstage. It’s just you, that string instrument and your voice. There’s a lot of vulnerability, but also transparency to the whole thing.
LK: Absolutely. And a lot of times now when we play, we also use different effects on the instruments because we’re a three-piece [band] most of the time, so it takes everything to sort of make a big, rocking show. It takes our musicianship. It takes our singing and our stage presence. The volume and the effects can send it in another direction, you know?
SMN: You straddle so many different genre lines, where you’re accepted in the bluegrass, Americana and rock-n-roll communities. Was that always something in your head of all those different influences or is that just how the cards fell?
LK: For me, I’m a big mix of all of it. Rock-n-roll. Bluegrass. Jazz. I love classical music. I just try to absorb every bit of it. And it’s influenced my songwriting to a point where I write a lot of different types of music. I might write a techno-style song or a blues song or rock-n-roll song or whatnot. I’ve always tried to walk to the beat of my own drum that way.
SMN: Which is interesting, because bluegrass can be so purist, where “if you’re in our camp, you can’t be in other camps.”
LK: Exactly. And for me, I don’t know, maybe they’ve given me a day pass. I’m not in the club yet. [Laughs]. And I love good bluegrass. I love playing with the great ones like Del McCoury and Peter Rowan — both of those guys stretch the boundaries quite a bit and I just love it.
I look at it as, “if something doesn’t grow, it’s probably going to die off.” It’s like plants and everything. I’m a gardener, so I think that way. And it’s really good to see these young bands like Greensky Bluegrass that go out and they’re playing to a thousand people or more just about everywhere they go.
I mean, it’s not traditional bluegrass, but it’s still bluegrass and the kids like it. And so, to me, I see the younger generation preserving bluegrass music. Traditionalist bluegrass people probably wouldn’t think that, they want to play it exactly the way it should go and that’s understandable.
But, I enjoy the music more than I ever have at this point, which is a true blessing. It really is. I’m still writing music and getting ideas, which is wonderful. And I’m surrounded by young musicians that have all kinds of ideas. It keeps me feeling great.
SMN: And yet, bluegrass purists tend to forget that Bill Monroe, the “Father of Bluegrass,” was a rebel. The music was created in rebellion.
LK: Absolutely. He was the original alternative music man. I mean, he was playing blues on his mandolin, playing with piano players and horn players and everything. He created a brand-new [style of] music.
SMN: What has the culmination of your experiences thus far — onstage, on the road and simply daily life itself — taught you about what it means to be a human being?
LK: It teaches me to have compassion and to be kind. You never really know what anybody’s going through at any given second. I think you should try hard to help somebody out along the way or bring a smile or like I say at a show, just “come out and see us and forget about your troubles” — let’s all get on a good brain wave and have fun for a minute.
Want to go?
Featuring world-class culinary treats and marquee musical acts, the annual Highlands Food & Wine Festival will be held Nov. 7-10 at various venues within the community.
• Thursday, Nov. 7: “Grand Tasting” w/Love Canon at The Bascom Center for the Visual Arts.
• Friday, Nov. 8: “Truckin’” w/Wilder Woods & Alex Lambert at Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park.
• Saturday, Nov. 9: “Main Event” w/Greensky Bluegrass and Larry Keel & Jon Stickley.
• Sunday, Nov. 10: “A Shot at Redemption” w/Futurebirds and Lee Fields & Abraham Alexander.
For more information, a full schedule of events and/or to purchase tickets, go to highlandsfoodandwine.com.
