Jim Keller

Now a cult figure in the music business, Keller’s gigs in New York and Nashville are legendary. If the best players in town aren’t on stage with him, they are in the audience, singing along, playing along, making the sort of noise that would get you locked up in a lesser town.

He’s in the throes of a creative renaissance, and his new album, End of the World, features some of the strongest writing of his career. It marks his seventh album since 2010, when he returned to songwriting after more than a decade managing composer Philip Glass and representing the likes of Tom Waits and Ravi Shankar. 

Keller will be joined by the album’s producer and multi-instrumentalist Adam Minkoff (Graham Nash, Amy Helm), legendary bassist Bob Glaub (Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks), keyboardist Todd Caldwell (Crosby, Stills & Nash) and, in all likelihood, surprise guests to form what Keller calls his Usual Mess.