Holly Williams' fetching new album, Here With Me, brings her family to mind
by Jewly Hight
- Autumn De Wilde
Last month, Holly Williams found herself explaining to U.K. press why she—an introspective singer-songwriter who frequently performs alone—was opening for the arena-ready country pop-rock duo Sugarland. She'd toured Europe before, but never with her millions-selling Mercury labelmates.
She says the pairing raised some eyebrows: "They're like, 'Well, they're in the mainstream country—why are you doing this?' And I just said, 'I'm still playing acoustic at [the venue] Shepherd's Bush Empire in front of 3,000 people by myself. I don't have, like, a blazing band coming over and wearing rhinestones. I'm still touring with people from every genre.'"
The journalists were also trying to make sense of Williams' familial lineage and new album, Here With Me. Both are more grounded in country than the Williams that European audiences had come to know through her touring and her brooding singer-songwriter debut, The Ones We Never Knew.
Says Williams, "On the first record—I didn't even know this until after the album came out—but one of my press friends told me that when the label sent out the bio, they did not say who I was. They just said 'Holly Williams, an artist,' that whole thing. I wish that that could happen on this record, because I love for people to hear my music with no preconceived notions. But it's kind of impossible at this point."
What a difference context makes. The identities, successes and influence of Williams' grandfather and father—Hank Sr. and Hank Jr.—have never been a secret in Nashville. With that pedigree—and no trace of her half-brother, Hank III's, punk outsider posture—it's only natural to wonder about her artistic and commercial potential. And to not sweat a Sugarland gig.
Much has changed since Williams released her debut five years ago. She and her sister Hilary endured a horrendous car wreck, and the entire family has become the subject of a Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit titled "Family Tradition."
Williams' kinfolk haunt her new songs in a way they haven't in the past. "Mama" praises her mother's admirable handling of marriage to Hank Jr.; "Without Jesus Here With Me" puts a traditional religious cast on Williams' near-death experience, her parents' concern and her grandfather's influence. Even songs like the Johnny-and-June-styled duet "Love I Think Will Last" or the steel guitar-laced ballad "He's Making a Fool Out of You"—which aren't about the family—have a sound that's really nothing like the three Hanks, but is more readily linked to their oeuvre than her music used to be.
"Because the single ['Mama'] is at country radio, I think it just solidifies for everyone to go, 'Hank's daughter, Hank's daughter, Hank's daughter,' " Williams says. "It definitely wasn't a planned thing on my part, but it's definitely more focused [with] this [album]. But it doesn't feel focused in any kind of negative way. Most people start their interviews saying, 'OK, let's get this out of the way, then let's talk about [you] as an artist.' "
Alongside the clearly country songs and beneath the delicately rootsy production—still understated by mainstream standards—Williams stuck to the serious-minded, heavy-hearted songwriting she's done all along.
"I was growing up during Lilith Fair...so when I first got into music, there was still a market for female singer-songwriters," she says. "Now that there's no more Emmylou or Mary Chapin in mainstream country radio, that's kind of my hope to be able to change that a little bit."
Email music@nashvillescene.com.
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