CW

Craig Williams is a veteran Nashville entertainer who began branding audiences his own in 1994. His unique brand of country flair, combined with his original music and high energy stage show can best be described as contagious. He leaves it all on the stage, every time he performs.

His first album, “Landin On Love,” under the stage name Landon Williams was a huge success. He gained widespread airplay of various songs on the album in the northwest and beyond. His catchy live show combined with thousands of units sold off of his tailgate soon caught the attention of Westwood One Network and major recording labels. This led him to Nashville in 1998.

He quickly learned that Nashville is a town full of rules. Soon after his arrival in Music City, U.S.A., he was banned from many clubs on lower Broadway for playing original music, even though audiences went wild and requested his originals night after night. Williams says, “The logic is to only allow covers to be played because it’s safer most the time for keeping audiences in the club. I had a hard time playing covers when the crowd wanted my own music and I was packing more people in with originals.”

His next outlet was songwriter cafés, which require original material. The problem is, they also require that you sit on a stool, stay mellow and keep it simple. “I can’t sit still and perform. I have to be high energy and can’t hardly stop that,” stated Williams. Even so, he was soon turning down cuts by several major artists. Wanting to see his songs through, and be “the artist,” he turned down these opportunities and a couple of publishing deals.

It was then obvious that the only thing left in Nashville to chase was a recording contract. With his keen business sense, and advice from friends who are major label artists, he could never negotiate a recording contract that he would sign. Williams says, “It was like trying to fit a basketball into a shoebox. I can read a contract and there are some things that are so one sided that they just can’t be good for the Artist.”

The next step was starting CW Studios Nashville. There he recorded and produced song demos ranging from country to hip-hop. He spent many long nights and other non-booked studio time to chase his own unique sound. “Nashville is a great place, you can record a song for less than five hundred bucks and it sounds great, just like everyone else. The problem was, I didn’t want to sound like everyone else. My journey was to find my own unique sound that was country, but a little bit more,” says Williams. The only way that he could pursue his goal, was to start a studio so that he would have unlimited, free time to find himself, through his sound.

Craig’s groundbreaking new album, “Back To Being Me,” will be out soon on Nashcade Records. It is the culmination of many years in Nashville spent on quality songs and his unique country flavor. There is no “B” side material on the album. Williams is known for his unique guitar collaborations, superb material and unique style. This is a cutting edge album that will cross musical genres while staying true to the music.

He knows his audience. In a recent interview, he was asked about his reputation as a rebel and being politically incorrect. He answered by saying that he was actually politically correct and could prove it by the lyrics from a song on the upcoming album. “I’m a flag waving, gun owning, blue collar, hard working, patriotic, woman loving man. I love God and my country, I believe in right and wrong, if that bothers you then you can kiss my ___. You see, I know who country fans are and where they stand. Toby Keith gets it, the Dixie Chicks did not”, said Williams.

Craig Williams is an honest artist, true to his music and the passion he enjoys sharing with audiences. Fans love his contagious energy and the emotion evoked by his songs.