Funky Folk Artist Keller Williams At Ridgefield Playhouse

Guitarist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist master of loops Keller Williams is an heir to both the mellow acoustic guitar showboating of Michael Hedges and the fusion-y complexities of bands like the Dixie Dregs.

Williams plays a musical stew made up of funky rhythmic grooves, trippy noodling riffs, goofball humor, left-field twists (Indian rage into bluegrass into electronica!) with folky touches. He’ll do some EDM-inspired riffing if he feels like it. His most recent record is called “Vape.” A promiscuous collaborator, Williams has worked with many in the jam-band scene, including members of the String Cheese Incident, and he’s also done numerous varied Grateful Dead covers projects.

Williams happens to share the name of a national real estate giant, which adds a nice element of confusion to online searches — who knows how many jam-band fans have accidentally purchased houses when they were intending to buy tickets for a show? Williams brings his Shut the Folk Up and Listen tour, featuring the similarly eclectic acoustic six-string wizardry of finger-picking hero Leo Kottke.

Keller Williams takes the stage at Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge, Ridgefield, Thursday, Jan. 12, at 8 p.m. $55. 203-438-5795 and ridgefieldplayhouse.org.