Writing and performing for over thirty years, Brooks Williams has carved out his own niche and earned a reputation as a superior guitarist to go along with prolific songcraft that has produced a staggering 34 albums in 35 years for a variety of labels. His collaborations with Aaron Catlow, Vera Van Herringen, Boo Hewerdine, Hans Theessink, Sloan Wainwright and the late, great Rab Noakes, to name but a few, are legendary. “Williams’ music effortlessly slides between country, blues and folk. He has been playing Americana long before it was given that name.” (from “Blues in Britain”)
He has toured extensively in the U.S., U.K. and Europe while working the college and coffeehouse circuit, also playing a Wikipedia-length list of major festivals on both sides of the Atlantic. Born in Statesboro, Georgia, Williams left home in his late teens and moved to Boston at the height of the 1990’s acoustic music renaissance. He did his apprenticeship in the bars and clubs in New York and New England and cut his teeth supporting artists like Shawn Colvin, Chris Smither, Rory Block, Leo Kottke, Odetta, Billy Bragg and Taj Mahal.
Writing descriptive songs that capture something about life and living today has been a running theme, although he can turn out masterful instrumentals as well. “My first public guitar performance was at an Autumn Harvest Festival when I was ten years old,” he said nonchalantly, “where I backed up a singer twice my age singing Leonard Cohen’s ‘Suzanne.’ My first public performance where I sang and played was when I was twelve. I performed James Taylor’s ‘Fire And Rain’ at a wedding.” His first album, “North From Statesboro,” caught the media’s attention, which set the ball rolling and Williams has never looked back.
He calls Cambridge (UK) home these days and recorded this mini-gig on an iPhone in his home studio. “My guitar in this video is a well-loved and well-worn J-19 built by Atkin Guitars in Canterbury in the United Kingdom.” As with his recordings, here his rich voice carries every emotion from pain to joy in such a way that elevates the lyrics from merely off the page, directly into the heart of the listener. There’s real experience and integrity coming from this musician.
“My first ever real gig was in a bar with my friend Terry, who played a Martin D-18,” Williams recalled. “99% of the sound of any guitar comes from the player, but there’s a little magic in the dust of every guitar that is unique to it, and Martin (guitars) has more than its fair share of this dusty magic. For the true players – the true disciples – it is there to be discovered.”
Williams will be having a busy rest of the year. Besides a fair number of solo shows, he has dates booked for duo performances with Aaron Catlow – they have three albums together with a fourth on the way – and even more duo dates with Dutch guitarist and songwriter Vera van Heeringen. Go to his website for further information on when and where to see live music at its best. In the meantime, listen in to this Brooks Williams exclusive mini-gig with notes from the artist on the songs he is playing, all originals except for the last, which is a Molly Tuttle composition.
- Doing Fine: A post-breakup song where you get the feeling the main character is trying to convince him or herself as much as those listening.
- Big Sky: This is a song written in a beautiful place on the East coast of Scotland called Lunan Bay. It’s the kind of place that resets your inner compass and barometer.
- Tornado Smith: This one pays homage to the first Wall of Death rider in the UK. He was significant for that alone, but I’m also struck by the fact that he was an unflinching self-marketer and was convinced he, and his Wall Of Death show with his wife Marjorie Dare and the lioness, would be remembered forever.
- Dooley’s Farm: Molly Tuttle wrote this song about a farmer with a diverse crop portfolio and how certain skill sets run along family lines.
