Album Review: Added: 10/2504Holly Williams - The Ones We Never Knew
By. Christine Bohorfoush - AngryCountry.com Staff Writer
Holly Williams Is Her Own Woman
What is in a name, you might ask... an all too familiar last name? Oh yeah, that Williams family. It is true: Hank is her grandfather, Hank Junior her dad, Hank III her half-brother... and that does not matter either. For Holly Williams is fully her own woman.
That name, in truth, played almost no role in her journey. Her parents separated when she was young. Through high school Holly lived with her mother and saw her father only intermittently during visits to his home in Paris, Tennessee, when he was not on the road. There was music at home; her mother, a pianist, played classical music most of the time. Her father's music filled her life, but her grandfather's legacy was only a distant presence.
The only hints that Holly would some day fall into the arms of music came when she was around eight years old. For about a year, she scribbled words into a notebook she called Holly's Song Folder. These words were based on melodies she was hearing in her imagination. None of them, she insists, is worth revisiting. Yet there was something in her lyrics that suggested that she would eventually have a lot to say through music.
"These weren't childhood songs," she remembers. "They were songs about issues, like death, people having affairs... things I knew nothing about. This one song, 'Who Am I,' was about a twenty-year-old girl through a broken marriage... and I was writing that at eight years old! I wasn't even really listening to music at that time, but even then I found it easy to put myself in someone else's shoes and write what they're going through."
Premonitions of her determination and ambition began to occur at about that same time. "I started running these little businesses," she says. "Every Saturday I would wash cars in the neighborhood for a dollar. I would organize yard sales. I did everything I could to set goals for myself and stay busy."
Modeling was her main goal at that time, so it made sense to Holly, even at age eight, to cold-call agencies in search of opportunities. This brought a swift reprimand from both parents, especially from her father who knew firsthand of the damage caused by fame won too soon. With that, Holly stepped back into the typical routines of childhood. She sang, but only in school productions, at church, and on karaoke outings with friends... no more than any other average kid. The songwriting stopped.
But the seed had been planted. Now and then Holly felt the pull of music, like a persistent reminder, especially whenever her father was in town to play a concert. "He'd bring me to those shows and I'd sit on the side of the stage," she says. "It was fascinating to be just a few feet from him, watching in front of a crowd of thousands. I loved that."
In the end, it was something less spectacular and more personal that inspired Holly to embrace a life in music. There had always been guitars within reach at home, but at seventeen she decided for the first time to try playing them. Within a week she was writing again. Before long she had completed fifty songs. Like her first efforts at age eight, most of these reflected on some of life's darker emotions, even though Holly admits to having had little contact with sorrow or heartbreak at that point.
"I really hadn't gone through anything serious," she laughs. "So I wrote about other people that I imagined or observed. A lot of what I do now is still based on what I see around me. Of course, as I started traveling and getting into relationships, I started writing more from my own experiences. I've done enough living to where I feel like I'm thirty now, so I tend to write on a more personal level based on what I've observed and felt."
Holly's momentum built throughout 2003 as she put together a five-song EP, launched her own website, played some shows with John Mellencamp, and went on the road with Billy Bob Thornton. By this time, major labels were taking notice. After weighing offers, she signed with Universal South. "I always wanted to be with a label in Nashville because this is where I live," she says. "And I wanted someone who would see me as a songwriter, and they're great about that. So I signed with them in January 2004 and we started the album in March."
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The Ones We Never Knew
Track One: "Sometimes" (Click to Listen)
A look at wishing that sometimes you could escape the pressures of your own life and be anyone but yourself.
Track Two: "Everybody's Waiting For A Change"
Interesting look at other's waiting for you to change who you are, when they really need to address issues and make changes to their own life.
Track Three: "Would You Still Have Fallen" (Click to Listen)
Absolutely emotional touch is brought to this track about dealing with the heartache of a love lost and trying to save a man from his vice. My favorite track from the album because of the strong message and wonderful lyrics.
Track Four: "Take Me Down"
Terrific heartfelt plea for a man not to break a woman's heart by walking out on her.
Track Five: "Between Your Lines"
A look at the mask a person wears, when in reality the person hides their true feelings behind this mask.
Track Six: "I'll Only Break Your Heart"
Knowing that although you may care deeply for someone, you would not be good for them is addressed in this song.
Track Seven: "Cheap Parades"
A track about the lies and hurt of hanging on to a lover when you know that the relationship is all wrong.
Track Eight: "Man In The Making"
A look at a woman who gives her all to a relationship in an attempt to turn a boy into a real man.
Track Nine: "Memory Of Me"
Meaningful touch is brought to this song about the regrets of leaving a relationship behind and hoping that what memories you made will forever be a lasting memory in a man's heart.
Track Ten: "Velvet Sounds"
A unique picture is painted in this strong song about the memories left behind by a man on a woman's heart... and like the sounds of life, these memories tug at her mind.
Track Eleven: "All As It Should Be"
Although you may question your life and its purpose, this track addresses how God leads your life right where it ought to be.
Track Twelve: "Nothing More"
Simply asking if love remains between a man and a woman and wanting nothing more than that love.
To say that I was awestruck by Holly Williams' debut album does not do it justice. At last, a woman in country music has brought back true traditional country. This young woman's way with the written word will simply amaze you and touch deep into your soul. This is the type of album that, at first, you may find difficult to get into only because it is so different from that standard meaningless watered down and not even country music that is pushed on country music fans today. Trust me, however, on this album, and give it your full attention and you will find yourself being taken into storytelling at its best and it will leave you breathless by both Holly's hauntingly beautiful voice and strong songwriting skill.
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