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I can imagine that if Thomas Dybdahl would hear The Ballad Of Benson Creek
that he would walk straight to Williams and introduce himself in Norwegian,
without hesitation. Without any doubt. They could be soulmates, Dybdahl
would know that after he just heard that one song. Just like Lyle Lovett
would like to be friends with this citizen from Milwaukee after hearing the
countryjazz of Doctors. Lovett would reckon the quality just after hearing
this one song. Would Merle Haggard's mouth fall open after hearing the
country-like-it-should-be-played-in-the-21-century of Carefull Please. Yes,
it will. He would know where to look for a duetpartner on a cd with duets.
It would make him a hipster. Would Guy Clark call Neal Diamond after hearing
Problems With Hemingway? Yes, probably.
She always had problems with Hemingway
Both gentleman would feel young again. Would feel the inspiration. These are
the kind of words that make you want to start writing.
And then there is Thunder Road. The most beautiful song in the world done
differently. Hayward Williams shows The Boss how this song sounds in
Nebraska-style.
Hayward Williams is young and very very talented. After hearing Another
Sailors' Dream I felt the same explosion as after I heard Ryan Adams'
Heartbreaker for the first time. Would Would Would. It will all change after
March 6. Take your biggest marker and look for that date on your most
important calender.
Patrick Donders
Hanx.net
The Netherlands - Hanx.net Reviews
[5 out of 5 stars] “The first major score for 2007! There isn’t one weak moment on this platter. From William’s own voice, that ranges from lovely and tender to raw and hoarse, to his brilliant lyrics & songs to the beautiful accompaniment of Mulvey and McMahon, this is the perfect marriage between folk, blues and country (rock).” - Ctrl. Alt. Country
- Ctrl. Alt. Country- Belgium
Buy me, Buy me, Buy me!
Ahhh, where to start? The exquisite gruffness of a manly voice that belies the strip of a lad who appears on the photographs? The moving, intelligent storytelling, from which "Doctors" and "Problems with Hemingway" stand out - but only just - from the crowd? Or the new-alt-country-blues (and will you forgive me that phrase) of the sound, put to beautiful use on "Devil's Lament"? In truth, its hard to put it into words; this is a fantastic record, one that's a treat from start to finish. On first listen, the cover of Thunder Road strikes a jarring note; when your songs are as good as Hayward's there seems no need to walk in another's shoes, but several goes later and it melds in seamlessly. You'll like this.
Date review added: Monday, January 29, 2007
Reviewer: Lynne Pettinger
Reviewers Rating: 9 out of 10 stars - AmericanaUK
"Hayward Williams' earnestly jaunty folk-rock might seem anachronistic in the prevailing musical atmosphere of self-conscious irony, but his combination of melody, restraint, and unabashed enthusiasm saves the day. Williams also boasts a voice that sounds several decades older than he actually is, lending his songs of love and loss a gravity they might not otherwise possess."
-The Onion - the Onion
"As a huge Peter Mulvey fan, I had to go a bit ballistic over this album. Throw in some qualities reminiscent of Greg Brown as well, and you've got one promising album to look forward to. Wrapping up folky blues and hints of rootsy country and country folk rock, Hayward Williams is one of the most compelling artists rising on the scene these days. With a gorgeous blend of ache, gristle and whiskey-toned gruffness, his songs walk a perfect line between the sweet and bitter, the sentimental and cynical."
-CD Baby - CD Baby
"... There is an ease about him that could be called the mark of the real deal. His songs are confessional, accusatory, and above all, conversational..."
-vital source magazine - Vital Source
"Who knows how he did it, but he has already written a few songs that any self-respecting songwriter would give an arm to have done. Watch him like a hawk. Track his movements. This could get hairy." -Peter Mulvey - Peter Mulvey
"Hayward Williams has matched his happy-go-lucky claustrophobia and dead-on tunefulness with a shrewd and complex production that makes every song on Uphill/ Downhill fascinate..." -Jeffrey Foucault - Jeffrey Foucault
En première partie, Hayward Williams, jeune mélodiste surdoué du Wisconsin. - Avis de Télérama
You are say according to opgegroeid with a guitar in your hands. Well, then may you expect that you -once on an adult age aangekomen- this instrument in certain extent control. If you then also yet on young age cafes, bars and where possible rockclubs with your guitar have afgestruind, then will there at the rest also but little be wrong. And, this everything knocks, for Hayward Williams appeared witness its beauty plate of Another Sailor's Dream a sore, very pardoned talent. To place somewhere in the neighborhood of a Ryan Adams, while in the breakable moments Thomas D. Jonsson in thoughts shoot. Is then a dream debut Another Sailor's Dream? No, for this supertalent has not stand –an ep-tje meegerekend- all a cd on its name, it from 2005 dating Uphill/Downhill. And, that disk is almost just as good as these new. Thus in this case no difficult or forced second, but well an excellent successor; a more classic in the making. With help of Godfather Mulvey on all sorts of strings (w. o. dobro) and backing vocals and someone else multi- instrumentalist, Wanderings Sons' Then McMahon (guitar; banjo; accordeon; lapsteel & drums), has Williams really an excellent cd from the sleeve geschud. That there is not talk of carelessness, but the eleven songs 'eyes' come be as if they on an achternamiddag just just till position. And also that is expertise. Hayward Williams, that self plays next to guitar also bass, piano, harmonica and glockenspiel, takes advantage of a cover, the of Springsteen lent Thunder Road. This afsluiter gets one and the same convincing execution as the ten songs of own hand. Songs that sink in despite the alternation immediately. No weak moment. The of the first cd 'known' Problems With Hemingway a new coat got, and possibly the price number is. But in a desire then also Doctors compete; Careful, Please; A Song For Lou and yet tracks sift a such kwalificering with. Self listen is the best conceivable advice, really where! Another Sailor's Dream appeared not pace on 6 March 2007 (Machine Records), and it will me amaze as distributors alhier stand to stamp this masterpiece on the market to set. For the one who cannot wait: by Plato. nl lies as well Another Sailor's Dream as the debut Uphill/Downhill already in the created. Almost - http://www.altcountry.nl/recensiesfeb07.html#haywa
Discography
CD " Another Sailor's Dream " released date - march 6th 2007
LP- "Uphill / Downhill" released march of 2005
EP- "Trench Foot" released december of 2005
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
" In truth, its hard to put it into words; this is a fantastic record, one that's a treat from start to finish."
-AmericanaUK - Another Sailor's Dream -9 out of 10 stars
[5 out of 5 stars] The first major score for 2007! There isn't one weak moment on this platter. From William's own voice, that ranges from lovely and tender to raw and hoarse, to his brilliant lyrics & songs to the beautiful accompaniment of Mulvey and McMahon, this is the perfect marriage between folk, blues and country rock .
- Ctrl. Alt. Country
"As a huge Peter Mulvey fan, I had to go a bit ballistic over this album. Throw in some qualities reminiscent of Greg Brown as well, and you've got one promising album to look forward to. Wrapping up folky blues and hints of rootsy country and country folk rock, Hayward Williams is one of the most compelling artists rising on the scene these days. With a gorgeous blend of ache, gristle and whiskey-toned gruffness, his songs walk a perfect line between the sweet and bitter, the sentimental and cynical."
-CD Baby
Hayward Williams grew up with a guitar in his hands performing from an early age in cafe's, bars, and eventually rock clubs throughout his home state of Wisconsin and around the Midwest.
A high school 'Battle of the Bands' champion, the textbook lonely college kid making dinner dates with his guitar, Williams took the well-worn suburban route to musical accomplishment: he hit the ground running with a '64 Gibson that his mother bought at a garage sale, listened hard to everything from the Beatles to Buckley, and somewhere along the way began to write the tunes that would become his own voice.
In 2001 Williams quit school to join the award-winning Milwaukee based band Exit, named Wisconsin Band of the Year in 2004, by the Wisconsin Area Music Industry. Lending bass guitar and vocals to the bands' hook-driven pop catalogue, Williams traveled the Midwest circuit and around the country with Exit, cutting his teeth as a performer and playing everywhere from the Summerfest stage in Wisconsin, to CBGBs in New York City. The regional popularity of Exit gave Hayward entr�e into larger clubs even as he was honing the catalogue of songs that would propel him toward more intimate settings.
In 2002 Williams independently released Manoverboard, a solo project recorded under a pseudonym, which allowed him the opportunity to play solo engagements throughout the region and served as the foundation for Uphill /Downhill, Hayward Williams's 2005 debut. A Wilco-esque collision of the radio and folk idioms that combines smart hooks with deeply textured studio atmospherics, Uphill/Downhill is an impressive collection of 12 original songs that moves elegantly from heartbreak to self-examination to wonder without the self-seriousness that might ordinarily drag such wanderings down.
Hayward's live shows have been described as having "...everything you could hope for... message, melody, and hooks" (Vital Source), and feature his facile guitar and thoughtful, distinctive tenor (imagine the honeyed side of Ryan Adams, Jay Farrar's earthy grit, the playfulness of Sam Cooke). Built on a foundation of folk, blues, and soul Hayward's songs in performance display the raw intensity common to these forms, tempered by his own easy self-possession and wry charm.
In little clubs and smoky bars around the Midwest, armed with his excellent debut record Uphill/Downhill, and his aw-shucks charisma, Hayward Williams is quietly building both a following and a career the old-fashioned way, one night at a time.
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