Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Keller Williams recently announced the debut of “Shut the Folk Up and Listen” with flat-picking guitarist Leo Kottke. The very special evening of music, which will feature a solo set by each artist, finds Keller performing a rare loop-less acoustic show. Attendees can also expect spontaneous collaborations between Williams and Kottke.

Keller Williams is best known as a one-man band for his exciting and unpredictable live stage show singing his compositions and choice cover songs while playing accompaniment on acoustic guitar and creating samples on the fly – a technique called live phrase sampling or looping. Recent years have found Keller fronting a handful of collaboration projects – as Keller Williams with The Travelin’ McCourys, Keller and The Keels, with his six–piece outfit More Than a Little, and with the newly debuted Keller Williams Trio featuring Rob Wasserman and Rodney Holmes and The Keller Williams KWhatro featuring Gibb Droll, Danton Boller and Rodney Holmes.  For “Shut the Folk Up and Listen,” Keller goes back to his earliest roots: stripped down and loop-less with just him and his guitar and alongside one of his biggest musical heroes.

Famed acoustic player Leo Kottke is known for a fingerpicking style that draws on blues, jazz and folk music, and for syncopated, polyphonic melodies. Kottke overcame a series of personal obstacles, including partial loss of hearing and a nearly career-ending bout with tendon damage in his right hand to emerge as a widely recognized master of his instrument. In concert, Kottke intersperses humorous and often bizarre monologues with vocal and instrumental selections from throughout his career, played solo on his 6- and 12- string guitars.