Tara Williamson Music

THE STORY

California born and raised, Tara Williamson had to move to Texas to find her songwriting roots. For Tara, there isn't a memory without music in it. She started singing weekly in church at age five, songwriting at the age of sixteen, and dabbled in the live music scene of Portland, OR after college, but Austin's welcoming spirit, endless sunshine and pool of talent has finally brought out the best in her voice as a singer, songwriter, and musician. 

After relocating to the Live Music Capitol of the World in late 2012 and spending a few years as a background vocalist in touring Austin soul band, The Nightowls (ACL Festival 2014 and 2015, Leon Bridges opener, Kool and the Gang opener, SXSW Official Act 2015 and 2016, 2 National tours), Tara decided that the original tunes she'd continued to write on the side needed to have their time in the spotlight.

Acquiring the producing skills of fellow former band member and Austin keys player, Sean Giddings (Fall River Footmen), and more than a handful of Austin's most talented musicians, she took to the studio in December of 2016 with her songs and influence from varying genres to produce her debut full-length album.

THE SOUND

Concise, smart vocal hooks converge into untamed melodic surges that invitingly distract and mesmerize. 

Tara draws from a wide variety of styles in her vocal-centric tunes: Patty Griffin, Dolly Parton, Norah Jones, Ingrid Michaelson, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, Don Henley, Tracy Chapman, Joan Osborne, Sara Bareilles, and a little bit of soul from Aretha, Ella, and Etta make for her sensitive, decisive, raw, powerful and intermittently unhinged singing style.

Organic acoustic rhythms, spaghetti-western electric and pedal steel, intimate piano, and B3 organ swells...the instrumentation comprises every bit of Tara's wide range of americana, jazz, R&B, soul, folk-rock, country, and pop influences. 

THE STUDIO

Recorded at David Boyle's Church House Studio in East Austin, the album is chock full of vibrant, rumbling, live-room energy. Literally an old church redesigned into a recording space, the vintage equipment, instruments, and microphones of the studio coupled with the unmatched talent of the Austin music community made Church House an easy decision for Tara's rootsy, soulful, honest sound.

THE ALBUM

Thirteen songs recorded in five days, mostly live, is a large feat. Producer Sean Giddings (Fallriver Footmen), Engineer Matt Meli, and the band of hand-picked Austin musicians worked tirelessly to create what Tara calls her "Empowerment Album". Each song has a clear message surrounding struggle, forward movement, and personal growth with tracks like "A Fighter", "Get On With It", and "It is What it Is".