David Gans & the William Brothers Band

A night with a consummate troubadour and some local favorites!

KAFM and the Radio Room present David Gans and the Williams Brothers at 7 pm March 19 in the Radio Room. 

During the past several years, David Gans has established himself as the consummate troubadour, traveling the country solo with just an electro-acoustic guitar and a few gadgets, and he's always been an amazingly sympathetic ensemble player.

David is known far and wide as the light behind the widely syndicated GRATEFUL DEAD HOUR radio program, several books on the Dead and a number of intriguing CDs relating to the band and its music. David has in recent years developed a solid following nationwide for his compelling songs and music. In fact, despite the economic downturn, David says he’s had his best year ever out on the road. “I’m having great gigs! Creatively, I’m as satisfied as I can be. I’m in complete control of my own musical destiny and I’m doing it on my own terms. I don’t have any executives telling me they ‘don’t hear a single,’” he laughs. “I’m not at anybody’s mercy.”

But “skilled solo performer” fills only one page of David's artistic resumé. Besides playing in all sorts of bands through the years -- from the fondly remembered Reptiles to the Honky Tonk Hippies, to his recent forays jamming on Beatles songs with Chris and Lorin Rowan (and friends) in a group called Rubber Souldiers -- he's also sat in with an amazing range of fine musicians, such as Phil Lesh, Donna the Buffalo, Henry Kaiser, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Ollabelle, the late great Vassar Clements, Jim Lauderdale, the String Cheese Incident, Peter Rowan and Moe, to name just a few. He has also written songs with a host of others, including Jim Page, Lorin Rowan and Robert Hunter.  He'll also tell you that, in recent years, as he's toured extensively and played with so many superb musicians at festivals and in other settings, he's discovered a whole new generation of songwriters and players who are inspiring him.

As both a player and a fan, he understands the indefinable transformative power of music -- how it feeds our very life-force, bonds us together in obvious and unseen ways, teaches us, heals us and makes us better citizens of this fragile planet.

As David notes, “I came up in the time when we thought music could change world, and I still think it can -- the only way the world can be changed: one person, one soul at a time.”

“He's definitely doing his part.”  - Blair Jackson

Hosting David Gans will be local favorites, the Williams Brothers Band.

The Williams Brothers were raised on the streets of Oakland, California during the '70s (the only "white boys" on Salisbury Street), listening to their parents vast blues and country vinyl collection, the funk that flowed out of boomboxes (pre hip-hop), and the psychedelic folk rock that blossomed in the East Bay Area during that time. So it was inevitable that the brothers followed their family's lineage of song and dance men.  After moving to Roseville, California, the brothers started putting together their first groups in the mid-'80s.  A Williams Brothers Band show features original songs peppered with extended improv-induced jams mixed with old folk, outlaw country, straight funk, original hip hop and classic rock songs. James Williams' vocals are inspired by the grit of Jim Morrison, the soul of Otis Redding and echo the personal experience of Jerry Garcia. Phillip Williams plays lead guitar with a deep blues style that is noticeably influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Duane Allman. Williams Brothers shows are always full of surprises and special guests; it is never the same show twice. The Williams Brothers Band’s hit single, "Circles," was nominated for a 2008 Golden Kayak Award by the International Academy of  Independent Artists for Best Rock Song. James and/or Phillip Williams have worked with: John  Lee Hooker, Def  Leppard, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Chicago, Three Dog Night, and many other well know bands too numerous to name.

It is going to be an exciting show with David Gans and the Williams Brothers Band in the Radio Room, March 19 at 7 pm.

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