Keller Williams featuring The HillBenders Bringing Petty Grass to Peace River Revival
Fans of Tom Petty and Keller Williams will be doubly delighted when Williams brings Petty Grass to life at Peace River Revival in Punta Gorda, Florida, on March 30. Together with progressive bluegrass performers The HillBenders, Williams will be paying tribute to the late great Petty, performing some of the star’s most beloved tunes with a bluegrass twist.
Keller Williams’ Petty Grass featuring The HillBenders is playing support for Florida powerhouse soul men and blues rockers JJ Grey & Mofro. Joining them on the lineup are Americana’s premier party band, Donna The Buffalo; indie rockers Cat Ridgeway & The Tourists; Florida bluesmen RJ Howson & Friends; country flame thrower Whey Jennings; Southern singer/songwriter J Edwards, and local folk and bluegrass artists Still Friends.
Photo credit: Michelle Wilson, Rock Legends Photographers
The Many Iterations of Keller Williams
Best known for his one-man performances featuring live phrase-looping, multiple instruments and multi-genres, Williams’ many side projects have included Grateful Gospel, Grateful Grass and Keller Williams with The Travelin’ McCourys. Williams has been confounding and delighting audiences for more than 20 years with his entertaining and often comedic one-man jam band performances.
Though primarily a solo artist he has toured with festival heavyweights such as The String Cheese Incident, Yonder Mountain String Band, Umphrey’s McGee and more. Starting last summer, he and the HillBenders began touring the U.S. performing Petty Grass while still managing to fit in solo gigs into his packed touring schedule.
Back in 2015, Williams put together a set of Tom Petty tunes done bluegrass for a benefit for his local S.P.C.A. “I had so much fun putting the project together, it brought a wave of joy over me singing these songs,” said Williams in a statement on his website. “With his untimely passing, these songs have pushed to the forefront of my mind, and it seems like as good a time as any to celebrate, publicly, the hits of Tom Petty.”
The Hillbenders
As it turns out, The HillBenders, a seasoned, bluegrass group from Springfield, Missouri, who share Williams’ passion for Tom Petty, were the perfect fit for the project. Consisting of Nolan Lawrence (mandolin), Gary Rea (bass), Jimmy Rea (guitar), Mark Cassidy (banjo) and Chad Graves (dobro), The HillBenders are expert pickers who have been performing high-energy originals and bluegrass-infused covers since 2008. They exploded on the scene in 2015 with TOMMY: A BLUEGRASS OPRY, a critically acclaimed album covering The Who’s legendary rock opera.
According to Williams, Tom Petty tunes are made for bluegrass interpretations. “These Petty songs lend themselves quite easily to bluegrass, and by the end of the night, the audience will more than likely be singing along in harmony,” he said.
https://www.facebook.com/kellerwilliams/videos/353941372073902/
Tickets for The Peace River Revival, to be held in Punta Gorda’s Laishley Park on the Peace River, have been selling briskly, and VIP is sold out, but some general admission passes are still available by clicking here.
A limited number of tickets are also available for the newly announced Peace River Revival After Party hosted by Jeb Puryear and Tara Nevins of Donna The Buffalo at Perch 360 on the rooftop of Punta Gorda’s historic Wyvern Hotel.
For more information about Peace River Revival, click on the links below.