Sam Williams joins Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen to talk about his debut album ‘Glasshouse Children.’ The two discuss Sam’s country lineage, feeling like an underdog, and how he manifested a collaboration with Dolly Parton on “Happy All The Time.” Tune in and listen to the episode in-full on-demand here. Sam Williams’ debut album Glasshouse Children is available everywhere now.
Sam Williams Shares He Didn’t Intend to Sign a Major Label Record Deal
I had no plans to sign with any major label or anything like that. There wasn’t a male in country music that I saw myself similar enough to to follow in their footsteps. And I just felt like an underdog, and I was more of an independent artist. And the people at Universal have just been absolutely incredible, Cindy Mabe, Mike Duncan. Cindy has been such a champion for me, and last week she told me that it was really my music that helped her to start feeling again after the pandemic, and helped her start feeling and music, and remind herself of why she’s in it. And I’m just extremely grateful. And I can’t really believe my album’s out.
Sam Williams on How His Music Differs from His Grandfather’s and Father’s
With me, with my last name, my grandfather’s [Hank Williams] legacy and everything that my dad’s [Hank Williams Jr.] done, that you have a preconceived notion going in that, “Okay, he’s going to play the ‘Outlaw’ shlick and try to bring something new to it and push the boundary a little bit. It’s going to be twangy” and stuff like that. And it wasn’t really intentional when I was making this record that like, “Aha, I’m going to surprise people.” It really wasn’t that. It was just that I only really write songs from the heart. So I think it’s that surprise that it’s not what you’re expecting. It just invites you to feel things that in mainstream country music, especially for men, I don’t think it’s tapped into enough. And I’m really grateful to introduce that in a new way right now.
Sam Williams on How He Got “Happy All The Time” to Dolly Parton
There was a mutual friend between a friend of mine, a songwriter, and somebody that’s really close to Dolly’s, she’s friends with, and she heard “Happy All the Time,” and she was like, “I’m not really supposed to do this, but I don’t know, something in me’s telling me I should. So if you want to make something personal for her, I’ll get it to her.” So I sat down at a desk and I wrote, “Hi, Ms. Dolly…” This is facts. I feel like I’m making it up, this is totally real. I wrote her a two-page letter, and I just really spoke from the heart and talked about my life, introduced myself as best I could, talked about “Happy All the Time” and what it meant to me, and just how validating it would be, and life-changing to sing with her specifically. It’s not like I wanted a co-sign from somebody cool in country music. I wanted her.
Sam Williams on Hearing Dolly Parton’s Portion of “Happy All The Time” for the First Time
It was crazy because it was 2019 and [Dolly Parton] had just done a tribute on the Grammy’s, I think the long nine minute tribute, and then she flew to London and debuted 9 To 5 on Broadway. And then as soon as she got back, she did “Happy All The Time.” I mean, as soon as she got back. And I absolutely could not believe it. And when I very first got the song, it was my idea to do the intro to the song of her doing the- “Happy.” I put that on the lyric sheet and everybody was like, “What do you mean by this? What does that mean? Whisper?” And I was like, “She’ll get it.” I was like, “I know she’ll get it. So just leave me alone.” And I played that eight times over and cried and finally listened to the whole song and it really changed my life. And I’ve been working to have a record that I felt was deserving of that blessing since then. And now we’re finally here.
