Jack Williams

Friday , October 26, 2001
12:00 am
Location: Elderly Instruments
in-store performance (free)

Jack Williams is a international-class guitarist/singer/songwriter based in Columbia, SC. He is outstanding among the handful of artists who - in skill, depth and integrity - are simply beyond the pale of most performers on the circuit. Among acoustic guitarists he is near-legendary. Having avoided the compromises of the commercial music industry during his 42-year professional career, he has preferred working the road, playing coffeehouses, concerts and festivals week in, week out, from the sheer love - and respect – of music. Jack has been writing since 1970, and has four CDs of original music. The most recent, Eternity & Main and Across the Winterline, are on the Wind River (Folk Era) label. His second, Dreams of the Song Dog, is an independent release. His first, Highway From Back Home, will be re-issued in 2001. In recent years, Jack has emerged from self-imposed obscurity to become firmly established in the contemporary acoustic - or "folk" - music world. This has led him to acclaimed appearances at Kerrville, Philadelphia and other music festivals and venues, and at the 1995, '97, '98, '99 and '00 Folk Alliance Conferences, where his guitar-playing, songs, and commanding personal presence always cause a considerable buzz. He was invited to participate in the 2000 World Folk Music Association concert, along with Odetta, Tom Paxton, Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen, the Limelighters, and others. As a guitarist, he has been invited to accompany Tom Paxton, Peter Yarrow, (at the opening concert of the '99 N.A Folk Alliance), Mickey Newbury and many others. Peter Yarrow (of Peter Paul & Mary) called Jack, "The best guitar-player I've ever heard." Friendships with two great singers had an enormous impact on the rest of Jack's career. In 1973, his relationship with the late Harry Nilsson resulted in an album effort at RCA during a year of music-industry turmoil and was an extraordinary learning experience. He lately has toured as sole accompanist to his friend, legendary songwriter Mickey Newbury, with whom he recorded a live album, Nights When I Am Sane, on Winter Harvest. In 1996, Jack co-produced, played and co-wrote a song on Mickey's next CD, Lulled By The Moonlight, which made Billboard's CD pick-of-the-week. They co-wrote another on Mickey’s latest CD, where Jack’s guitar is a reassuring presence. He remains involved in helping Mickey complete his life's work in performing and recording. Mickey Newbury said, "Jack and his music are an American treasure". From 1958 through 1987, Jack was probably best-known as an electric guitarist in several influential rock bands. In the late 60's, he began exploring his troubadour nature and started to perform solo, singing and playing a gut-string guitar, traveling coast to coast. Before becoming a writer, Jack drew inspiration from the varied likes of Jesse Winchester, Josh White, Hank Williams, Willis Alan Ramsey and Ray Charles. When the spirit moves him today, hundreds of songs from favorite writers spring readily from his lips and fingers. As a hired-gun guitarist in the 60's, Jack worked shows with John Lee Hooker, Big Joe Turner, Jerry Butler, Z.Z. Hill and Hank Ballard. His bands also backed up such artists as the Shirelles, the Del-Vikings, the Coasters, the Drifters, and the Platters. Jack's career has been nothing if not eclectic. He played trumpet in a jazz quartet in a beatnik coffeehouse in Seattle in 1959 - reading poetry to the audience during breaks. He learned banjo and mandolin to spice up folk groups in the 60's. He played pedal-steel guitar in a country-rock band, and composed chamber music for strings, winds, piano and voice for which he won a national arts grant in 1967. He also played classical guitar/lute in a Renaissance ensemble. Jack Williams is truly a melting pot of all these influences, fusing guitar, voice and songs in creating all-American southern music that should not be missed.

Check out recordings we carry featuring Jack Williams