Holly Williams could have come from anywhere. She might have started singing and writing long before she actually did. Her bloodline could have been nobody’s concern. It doesn’t matter. Well it doesn’t hurt when your father is Hank Williams Jr.!
She still would have written songs that explore the tender recesses of love. Her lyrics would still speak with a rare, spare eloquence. Her voice would be just as unforgettable as it is today — intimate or assertive, a whisper or a declamation, a vessel overflowing with her poignant passions.
When we caught up with Holly she was just finishing a tour with Kasey Chambers and finding a little time to relax.
Hip: It’s good to meet a country singer who writes. Is writing natural for you?
Holly: I’ve never planned to go into music. I literally one day picked up a guitar, learned a few chords, and that night I wrote a song. It was just there and that was when I was seventeen. I couldn’t really sing at all then, I had a horrible voice, but originally I wanted to just be a songwriter. The writing is what brought me into music. I just love it. If I have an instrument the melody comes, but lyrics just come to me and the melody is a lot harder. It’s cool because I never took any lessons so it’s good because its fun.
It’s probably good that you don’t go by the book.
I know, but some people tell me my chords are really boring because they are a lot alike.
Well you got songs out of them so they can’t be all that bad.
(Laughs) Right.
What is interesting is how some people the melody comes naturally and the lyrics are hard and then there are others who have the opposite issue.
Most writers I meet find the melody is easy, but that is where I feel blessed. I never co-wrote but I don’t know if I want to do that but if I feel blessed the lyrics and story come to me.
Did you feel any pressure?
Well I lived with my mom in Nashville and my dad lived in Tennessee. I was always protected from the whole music thing. My dad didn’t want me to get into it. When I started writing he knew I was serious about it. I knew I didn’t want to go to college but I wanted to do something creative. A lot of kids grew up listening to albums their parents would play for them but I didn’t have that. My mom used to play piano all the time and I’d see my dad live, but I didn’t listen to a lot of music as a kid. I would listen to the radio but it was heinous music like New Kids on the Block. When I started writing is when I started to discover music. I just went out and bought everything in all genres.
Was your dad worried that you were going to do get into music and not care about the music?
He was afraid I’d be doing it just to be famous. He never sat me down and asked me about this but I know he would have thought that. Back in the day everyone who did music did it because they loved it. Back in the 1970s people were starving artists but these days everyone wants to be a singer like Faith Hill.
Did you always acknowledge your dad?
I tell people if they already know or ask me. When I’m on tour no one really knew. I don’t go around bragging about it, but I’m totally proud of it. Even now a lot of people who bought the album or come to the show don’t really know about my dad because they aren’t country people. I like that they aren’t sold on something already.
Some people who have famous parents want to completely distance themselves, but if I was in your position I’d be the same way. I’d want to know they liked me for me.
My dad’s fans are awesome. They tell me they’d support me because they support anything that involves my dad. It’s still kind of fun when people don’t know.
Is it weird that rock guys like Kid Rock is a huge fan of your dads. Your dad is coming back through a new generation.
Kid Rock and my dad are like best friends. My dad had hit after hit and had his persona and his people stay with him and its affected people. Kid Rock said he mixed country with rap was because he heard my dad play “Walk This Dad.” His influence is huge and more than Nashville—Nashville actually rejected him.
It has to be wild that rock stars like Kid Rock are calling your dad their idol and aren’t much older than you.
I know, but me and my friends listened to my dad growing up.
I read that you listened to a lot of different music as you got older…
…I got my first Visa when I was eighteen so I started buying all these albums. I was doing all this writing and I wanted to learn about all the other writers. So I started with Neil Young, Dylan, and Jackson Browne, Tom Waits, and the Beatles. I loved Queen and started listening to Robert Johnson. I wanted to listen to everything. I became a freak. My friends wanted to go to frat parties and I wanted to go to rock shows. I love music and it was never about rock or country. It was about good songs and about the artists. Anyone who was expressing themselves I loved.
What is your goal now that you have the record deal and are touring?
My ultimate goal would be to play theaters my whole life. I don’t want to play arenas. I really want to play and write—but I want to do it on a smaller level. No one believes that, but I can hop into a limo any time and hang out with rock stars with my dad. I’ve always been a southern goober and love hanging out at home and want to have a family and all that stuff. If I can keep writing songs and playing theaters I’d be the happiest girl in the world.
+ Charlie Craine
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