By Art Edelstein
Arts Correspondent
Dave Keller has had a busy year. In January, he released “Live at the Killer Guitar Thriller,” his eighth album and his first live recording with his road trio. That album highlighted his live performance sound and the gritty authenticity of the stage.
Montpelier blues and soul singer and guitarist will now release “You Get What You Give,” an album of duets with some of the top names in blues and soul.
According to Keller, this album, his ninth, is his way of giving back to the music community that he has been part of since he became a performer. As he explains, “Back in June, after the murder of George Floyd, I watched this country seething with anger and pain. As someone who has built his career performing Black music, and who has received priceless gifts from Black mentors, I asked myself, ‘What can I do to help?’ ”
Like most musicians the COVID-19 pandemic had shredded his schedule of performances. With lots of time on his hands he thought, “What if I record my new originals with some of my friends, and donate the money from album sales to groups working for racial justice and equity?”
Keller, who has built a large fan base and made many friends in the blues and soul music community, said he “put the idea out there on social media, and the response was incredible. Within 24 hours I had received hundreds of dollars’ worth of pre-orders. And dozens of musicians wanted to participate. Clearly other folks felt the way I did, and wanted to give back in some way.”
The result is this new album, which will be released Dec. 19 at a concert at the Spruce Peak Arts Winter Concert Series in Stowe.
The album, which features duets with some of the finest singers in the genre, is 180 degrees different from “Guitar Thriller.” “You Get What You Give” is a polished studio album with Keller writing most of the material with musical backing by his band, which includes keyboard wizard Ira Friedman whom Keller praises for “holding the record for having played in my band longer than any other musician, 14 years and counting.”
Keller’s “Guitar Thriller” band mates Alex Budney on bass guitar and drummer Jay Gleason round out the basic band. The band is augmented by a horn section of Mark Earley of Roomful of Blues along with Mario Perrett on sax, Tom Palance on trumpet and Garth Retallack on trombone. They give the album an extra kick.
“You Get What You Give” is an album you want to dance to. It’s got an infectious beat, vocals that emote and lyrics and melody by Keller that reveal a sensitive writer. The album contains nearly an hour of music and shows Keller at the top of his game as writer and performer.
The album was recorded in Waitsfield at Sugarhouse Sound Works in June. Keller said 40 musicians and production people contributed to the recording. Because his duet singers were spread out across the country, Keller recorded all the music and his vocals in Vermont and then sent specific tracks to the other singers and musicians not in the state to record their parts. The result is a production as smooth as silk.
The musicians here represent a great diversity of styles, backgrounds, ages, genders, and ethnicities.
“Some are known around the world,” Keller said. “Some are known only locally. But most importantly, their music and their ‘soul’ moves me.”
Keller highlighted some of the duo participants. Annika Chambers, he said, is “an incredibly talented, strong, outspoken woman, and I couldn’t be happier to have her on this album.” Carly Harvey, based in Washington, D.C., is known as “D.C.’s Queen of the Blues.”
Annie Mack “is a deeply spiritual singer, and a writer of great depth.” Hailing originally from Minneapolis, where Floyd was slain, “it seemed a perfect fit to ask her to be on the album,” Keller said.
Joe Louis Walker is a member of the Blues Hall of Fame. Listening to his vocals on “Scratchin’ at Your Door,” Keller said, “I was completely blown away by the originality of his approach.” Dawn Tyler Watson won a Juno award (Canadian Grammy) for Best Blues Album of 2019.
“When I wrote ‘Make It to Tomorrow,’” Keller said, “it reminded me of the kind of songs Vermonter Chad Hollister writes, so it seemed only natural to have him sing it with me.”
Keller calls Johnny Rawls “one of the last of the true soul men, having learned his art directly from giants including Joe Tex, Z.Z. Hill, and O.V. Wright. Johnny’s a close friend and one of the deepest singers of all time.”
The senior performer on the album is Brother Bob White. “I’ve sung in Brother Bob White’s church,” Keller said. “Bob who is 89 has toured New England with me, making many friends and fans.”
Toussaint St. Negritude is a spoken word artist, in the vein of Gil Scott Heron, who lives in Vermont. His words close the album. April Caspari has sung in Keller’s Soul Revue for the past number of years. “She has great positive energy, and is a wonderful soul and funk singer based in Derby, on the Canadian border,” he said.
Keller’s latest album will support a very good cause, with excellent musical performances.
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