Young, hungry, hairy people singing and bumping into each other.

That’s what Keller Williams says to expect from his show at the Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St. Yes, his response is unexpected, but so is nearly everything about his music. His newest album, ODD, is yet another showcase of this surprising mix.

“Stylistically, it’s all over the map,” he said. “There’s folk, over-the-top techno, bluegrass, jazz, reggae, and I’m trying to dial into world beats. Lyrically, it’s just a stream of consciousness, while other songs are toward the comedic side.”

Williams has frequently been called music’s “mad scientist,” a one-man-show who restlessly dances barefoot onstage, bouncing from instrument to instrument like a child jumping from toy to toy. Nobody can quite describe the experience secondhand, so it’s best to see it live at the Englert at 8 p.m. Friday — $25 for adults, $22 for adults who happen to be students.

UI graduate student Thomas Vonderhaar is one in many who not only plans to attend but has also been promoting the show.

“His performance really is something that everyone needs to see,” he said. “He has such a unique musical style and perspective that it’s kind of hard not to notice him.”

Vonderhaar loves the musician so much that he is a solo Williams “cover band” and plays his songs around the Iowa City area in such venues as the Mill, 120 E. Burlington St., and the Industry, 211 Iowa Ave.

“[Williams] has taught me so much indirectly I feel like I owe him thousands in music lessons,” Vonderhaar said.

Iowa City is one stop on Williams’ solo “guitar-store tour,” which will end in Pittsburgh. Even though he performs more than 100 shows a year, his improvisation-driven shows — alive with rhythmic pattern and originality — have a new feel every time.

“There is lots of music in me that’s constantly swirling around, and going onstage is a good release,” he said.

His devotees are as diverse as his genres. He said his fans definitely give off a college vibe, but there is also that “NPR crowd sitting in the audience.” Vonderhaar describes the fans as an “eclectic bunch,” from “hippies to acoustic crooners to people looking for a good time.”

Williams said he is a big fan of Iowa City and is looking forward to returning to play for the “young and hungry music-loving kids.” It’s as if he’s picturing Vonderhaar in the audience.

“I’m actually hoping to get into contact with Keller and his management to see if he’d be interested in me opening for him sometime as himself,” Vonderhaar said. “So I would come on before he plays, playing as him in his 20s, and then he would come out and do the modern Keller stuff. A guy can dream, can’t he?”

Yes, he can, and if anybody can appreciate an imaginative scheme like that, it’s Williams himself.