Music

Williams' move to England fortified his American roots

Brooks Williams
Brooks Williams

Guitarist/singer/songwriter Brooks Williams is certain he's performed in Little Rock this century, but he's unclear on exactly which year it might have been. He has a fair-to-middlin' excuse, having moved to Cambridge, England, five years ago.

Williams, 56, has released 23 albums since embarking on his musical career in 1990, when he debuted with North From Statesboro, named for the Georgia town where he was born. He grew up in Boston, which remained his home until his move to Great Britain.

Brooks Williams

7:30 p.m. Saturday, Thomson Hall, Unitarian Universalist Church, 1818 Reservoir Road, Little Rock

Tickets: $15; $8 for students with ID; free for accompanied children under age 12

(501) 663-0634

littlerockfolkclub.…

"It was a move brought on for the love of a woman, yes," he says. "For a time we thought we could maintain our separate homes, but we took a look at our family situations and it made a lot of sense for me to move there. It felt natural for me to do so. I'd toured a lot in England and Ireland and Europe, so now I still do that, and come back to the States and tour here, too."

Williams walks a fine line between blues and Americana. Unlike many acclaimed guitarists, he likes lyrics with his licks.

"I get bored with just guitar music," he says with a laugh. "What really interests me is a really good song with melody and lyrics. Initially, I was someone who primarily loved to play guitar."

Relocating to a new country has not caused Williams to take on any of its musical idiosyncrasies, he says, but rather, he's noticed a new feel for his American roots.

"When I moved out of the U.S., I expected to absorb the British influences," he says. "But instead, I've become more connected to my American roots, and decided to write more in the vein of American country and blues. And the people in England and Europe, that's what they want to hear. One of the top five songs I get asked to play is 'Statesboro Blues,' since the fans know that's the town I was born in."

Williams has performed with Billy Bragg, Leo Kottke, Little Feat, Maria Muldaur, Shawn Colvin and Boo Hewerdine. He has performed at festivals in Kerrville, Texas, and in England at Cambridge, Shrewsbury and Glastonbury. Just as Jimi Hendrix was acclaimed for his guitar version of "The Star-Spangled Banner," Williams has through the years become noted for his slide guitar version of "Amazing Grace."

His show for the Little Rock Folk Club will be a solo set, featuring Williams singing and playing an acoustic and a steel slide guitar.

"I do songs from my whole range of nearly 30 years of material," he says. "I used to focus on the latest music I'd recorded, but nowadays, thanks to social media, I was able to ask my fans what they would like to hear, and the answers I got were all over the spectrum, from my first album on up. So I got out all of my albums and listened, since I had to relearn some of my songs.

"Sometimes I would hear something on one of my albums that differed from my memory of it, so that was an interesting experience when that happened. I recognized my guitar playing, but it was interesting to hear the changes in my voice."

His latest recording is Shreveport Sessions, recorded at a combination venue/studio in that northwest Louisiana city.

"The folks there have this great 125-seat room, and they asked me if I wanted to record my show, and I said, 'Sure,'" Williams says. "I've got lots of live recordings, but nothing compares to the job they did on this one, so I decided to just go ahead and release it."

The album has eight of his songs and four standards, three of which are blues songs: "Mercury Blues," "Weepin' Willow Blues" and "Deep River Blues."

Weekend on 12/04/2014

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