[Sponsored]: Following a string of notable recent appearances with Toy Factory Project and Oteil Burbridge & Friends, embattled percussionist J.R. Williams has announced a high-profile solo show as the headlining act at the free, four-day Spring Beer Jam 2026 at Dunedin, FL’s Dunedin Brewery this Sunday, March 29th.

Williams has recruited a number of his notable friends to join him for the occasion including bassist Oteil Burbridge (Dead & Company, Allman Brothers Band, Aquarium Rescue Unit), banjoist Rev. Jeff Mosier (Aquarium Rescue Unit, Blueground Undergrass), and keyboardist/musical director Ryan Gregg (Ocean Avenue Stompers). The J.R. & Friends set will also feature Justino Walker, Mark Mayea, Yral Morris, and Vinny Svoboda. experimental fusion collective Anthill Cinema.

They will help close out the four-day event, which is also due to feature Mike Dillon & Punkadelick (ft. Nikki Glaspie and Brian Haas), The Heavy Pets, Funkin Grateful, Brain Emoji x Mike Dillon, Joe Marcinek Trio, Yacht Lava, Pipe Dreamer, Movie Props, The Organ Trail, DJ 45 Revolver, Jon Ditty’s Shuffle, and more.

While he has been praised by a long list of music industry notables, little is currently known about J.R. Williams beyond his long string of maddening legal woes surrounding his infamous inability to complete a song.

Williams has frequently performed with Anthill Cinema on various occasions and is featured on several of the band’s official recordings including the 2023 live album the group recorded at Suwannee Hulaween. As Hulaween co-producer Paul Levine explained, “It’s hard to pinpoint JR’s talent, but I always knew he had passion.”

Per an article from a local Missouri newspaper in 2021, Williams was arrested onstage mid-performance during an appearance with Anthill Cinema at Knotta City Downtown Getdown five years ago. He subsequently escaped from custody and has remained on the run from authorities ever since.

Despite his fugitive status, J.R. has continued playing sporadic gigs, risking being re-captured by law enforcement or drawn into further litigation each time he hits the stage. He performed a handful of shows with Oteil & Friends between 2023 and 2025 including a gig at The Caverns in September 2023 and a two-night run at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom in 2025.

The latter, he explained to Live For Live Music, was particularly risky for him: As a tribute to the late Phil Lesh, that run both started and ended with “Unbroken Chain”—leaving Williams open to unfinished song prosecution for nearly a full 24 hours. Even when the band played the rest of “Unbroken Chain” on night two, they never returned to the root note at the end of the performance, leaving the progression unresolved and the song technically “unfinished” in a “catch me if you can” wink to authorities.

As Burbridge explained in an interview on Williams’ strange legal saga, “Phil would rather us not play the root and leave it suspended at the end, and also I’ve played in a trio with [Bill] Kreutzmann for years and we never had any endings, so I don’t know what this lawsuit is all about, it’s BS.”

The tribulations of J.R. Williams will be illuminated by a new documentary, Crap Artist: The Real J.R. Williams Story, which is currently in production and slated to hit the film festival circuit in 2027. Watch the official trailer below.

Crap Artist: The Real JR Williams Story (Official Trailer)

The 12th edition of Michael Lyn Bryant and Unusual Noise Presents‘ Spring Beer Jam comes in celebration of 30 years of Dunedin Brewery, Florida’s oldest microbrewery. Music at the weekend-long event will take place in three different spaces: the main pub, the beer garden, and “The Moontower,” a second room opened in 2022 which overlooks a large mural of the late jam scene forefather Col. Bruce Hampton, another key figure in J.R.’s story.

J.R. first met the Rev. Jeff Mosier at Roots Rock Revival, the Butch Trucks-founding music camp in Big Indian, NY now hosted by Oteil Burbridge. During a class about the music and the magic of Col. Bruce Hampton, Oteil reportedly introduced J.R.onstage as “proof that there are more descendants of Col Bruce than I was aware of.” In response, a barefoot J.R. wondered, “Has anyone seen my boots? I lost them by the river.”

[Photo: Carina Duffy – J.R. Williams (standing) onstage with (from left) J.M. Kimock, Jeff Mosier, Oteil Burbridge at Roots Rock Revival 2024]

Col. Bruce, the jam scene forefather and leader of the Aquarium Rescue Unit, had a noted affinity for Dunedin Brewery, where he performed a three-night run toward the end of his life. “Dunedin Brewery was the one place that the Col insisted I play more, and I’m excited to be coming back to Dunedin for the first time since 2013,” explained Mosier, who will perform alongside J.R., Oteil, and company on Sunday. “Bruce knew that nothing builds community like music, and Dunedin have been longtime veterans of creating ‘a great hang’ that helps the music work its universal healing power.”

Although J.R. clarified that this show is not a tribute to Col. Bruce Hampton, his Zambi magic will certainly be in the room when J.R. & Friends—featuring two founding members of ARU—take the Moon Tower stage at Dunedin Brewery on Sunday night.

Will they manage to actually finish a song? It’s truly anyone’s guess. Head to Dunedin Brewery in Dunedin, FL on March 29th to find out, or tune in for a free livestream of the performance below. Get all the details and a full schedule of performances for  this weekend’s Spring Beer Jam here.

For more on J.R. Williams, head here.

Spring Beer Jam – J.R. & Friends – 3/29/26 – Full 4K Livestream