William Breen Kelliher (born March 23, 1971) is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist of heavy metal band

Mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of the ...

, and being the only band member who doesn't share the lead vocal duty.

Early life

Kelliher is an Irish citizen, he holds dual citizenship with the United States and Ireland. His father is an Irish immigrant who, in his teenage years, moved to the U.S. from

Killorglin Killorglin () is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. As of the 2016 CSO census, the town's population was 2,199. Killorglin is on the Ring of Kerry tourist route, and annual events include the August Puck Fair festival, which starts with the crow ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

, Ireland.

Career

Kelliher performs a number of different roles within Mastodon. These include backing vocals during live performances, complex guitar parts and occasional lead guitar. He is also running the samples and ambiance in between and during songs. He shares guitar duties with

Brent Hinds William Brent Hinds (born January 16, 1974) is an American musician best known as a member of the Atlanta, Georgia metal band Mastodon, in which he shares guitar duties with Bill Kelliher and vocal duties with Troy Sanders and Brann Dailor. Hi ...

, playing mainly complex

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...

parts, although Kelliher occasionally plays solos, such as on "Sleeping Giant", and harmonized dual leads with Hinds, such as on "Black Tongue". On June 12, 2007, Hinds and Kelliher won the

Metal Hammer Golden Gods award The following is a list of the ''Metal Hammer'' Golden Gods Awards winners. Introduction The awards were conceived by Chris Ingham, John O'Sullivan & Dave Bianchi, and first held at the Kentish Town Forum in London 2003. The show was owned by Fut ...

for best shredders, Mastodon's first ever award. Mastodon won a

Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, where ...

for the song "Sultan's Curse" in 2018.

''Game of Thrones'' appearance

Kelliher, along with

Brann Dailor Brann Timothy Dailor (born March 19, 1975) is an American musician, best known as a member of heavy metal band Mastodon, in which he is the drummer and one of three vocalists. Career Dailor first started playing in a band called Eviscerati ...

and

, portrayed "wildlings" on season 5, episode 8 of ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of '' A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the fir ...

'', which was filmed in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

in Northern Ireland. As previously reported, the band's original song "White Walker" is featured on the ''Game of Thrones'' mixtape ''Catch the Throne Vol. 2'', but in the instance of their physical appearance, a press release from Reprise Records reports that the band was personally invited to participate in the show by ''Game of Thrones'' executive producer Dan Weiss, who is a fan of the band.

Equipment and style

Guitars

Kelliher uses several guitars in Mastodon: his main guitar for a long time was a

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typ ...

Custom in a Silverburst finish. He used other Les Paul Customs in Ebony and Alpine White during the band's 2009 tour with Dethklok. He has also used several Gibson Explorers, including a vintage Explorer CMT in tobacco burst. Kelliher has also used two custom Yamaha SBGs and a

First Act First Act was a manufacturer of musical instruments and musical learning toys, that produced guitars, bass guitars, guitar and bass accessories, drum sets, percussion instruments, and amplifiers. Mark Izen founded the company in 1995; its onlin ...

custom 9-string Silverburst DC Lola, which was used particularly on the title track for ''

Crack the Skye ''Crack the Skye'' is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Mastodon, released on March 24, 2009, through Reprise, Sire and Relapse Records. The album debuted at number 11 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 41,000 copies in its ...

''. In 2013, Kelliher got a signature Gibson Explorer, named "The Golden Axe". It has a mahogany body and neck, rosewood fretboard with figured acrylic trapezoid inlays, a gold burst finish and Lace Nitro Hemi humbucker pickups. In 2014, Gibson released a signature Bill Kelliher “Halcyon” Les Paul, with Lace Dissonant Aggressor pickups. In June 2016, ESP Guitars announced that Kelliher had started endorsing their guitars and that they would be releasing 2 signature models for him, the high end ESP Bill Kelliher and the more affordable LTD BK-600. The guitars are both of the Eclipse body style with full thickness mahogany bodies with no waist cut, 3 piece mahogany set through necks with 22 fret ebony fretboards and 24.75 scale lengths. They feature locking tuners and Tone Pros tunomatic and stoptail locking bridges, and Kelliher's signature Lace Dissonant Aggressor pickups. They are available in Military Green Sunburst Satin finishes with bound bodies and headstocks and ESP flag inlays.

Amplification and effects

Kelliher previously used Laney amplification (specifically, the VH100R head). Subsequently, he played a Marshall JCM 800 Kerry King signature. Since 2010, Kelliher and his bandmate Brent Hinds performed live with Orange Thunderverb series amplifiers. Kelliher's pedal board includes A Line 6 HELIX and a Digitech Jamman Looper Pedal. Kelliher also uses an Audiotech Guitar Products Source Selector 1X6 Rack Mount Audio Switcher. In 2013 Kelliher collaborated with Lace Pickups on his own signature guitar pickups, the "Dissonant Aggressors". At NAMM 2016, Friedman Amplification launched a signature amp for Kelliher called the Butterslax.

Style

Like his bandmate Hinds, Kelliher also uses three tunings in Mastodon: D Standard on the Les Paul (E Standard down one whole step, D G C F A D), Drop C on the Yamaha SBG (Drop D down one whole step, C G C F A D), and another tuning similar to D standard, but with the sixth string tuned down to A (A G C F A D), on the Explorer.

Personal life

Kelliher is married and the father of two boys. His wife is an epidemiologist.

Discography

Lethargy

*'' It's Hard to Write with a Little Hand'' (1996) - guitar

Today is the Day

*'' In the Eyes of God'' (1999) - bass guitar *'' Live Till You Die'' (2000) - bass guitar

Mastodon

*''

Remission Remission often refers to: *Forgiveness Remission may also refer to: Healthcare and science *Remission (medicine), the state of absence of disease activity in patients with a chronic illness, with the possibility of return of disease activity *R ...

'' (2002) - rhythm guitar *''

Leviathan Leviathan (; he, לִוְיָתָן, ) is a sea serpent noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Amos, and, according to some ...

'' (2004) - rhythm guitar *'' Blood Mountain'' (2006) - rhythm guitar, lead guitar on "Sleeping Giant", backing vocals *''

'' (2009) - rhythm guitar *'' The Hunter'' (2011) - rhythm guitar *'' Once More 'Round the Sun'' (2014) - rhythm guitar *'' Emperor of Sand'' (2017) - rhythm guitar *'' Hushed and Grim'' (2021) - rhythm guitar In a 2017 appearance on ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...

s YouTube show ''Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?'', Kelliher expressed incredulity of ever providing any lead vocals on any of Mastodon's studio albums.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelliher, Bill 1971 births American heavy metal guitarists Living people Guitarists from Georgia (U.S. state) Musicians from Rochester, New York Rhythm guitarists Today Is the Day members Mastodon (band) members People from Victor, New York 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from New York (state) 21st-century American guitarists American male guitarists Irish rock guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians