Talent runs in the family, as Rusty Williams, the grandfather of Paramore's Hayley Williams, is gearing up to release his debut album, Grand Man, at 78, on her bandmate Zac Farro's label, Congrats Records.
Despite being his debut album, this is far from Rusty Williams' first rodeo in the music industry. The guitarist and singer began writing songs as a child, sang in a church choir, joined a band, and even wrote jingles for local businesses before finally recording his life's work in the '70s. While he often talked about this album, Hayley and her bandmates never believed it actually existed until Rusty's old production partner recently unearthed it.
“So many people our age are mining these albums for tones and things you can’t even replicate,” Hayley says. “And Grandad has a way of cutting to the core of a feeling, and not overcomplicating it which we tend to do, because the world is hard. It’s nice when you can hear something plain and simple and know that it is true.”
“I thought that it was a crime that these songs were sitting there on the shelf,” adds Farro.
With the first single, Knocking (At Your Door), already out, music aficionados can expect an album that evokes the “relaxed pop of Herb Alpert and Burt Bachrach,” sprinkled with “a bit of the Nashville sound.”
From his end, Williams senior is just happy that this album is finally seeing the light of day – albeit a couple of decades later than he intended.
“I don’t expect anything, and I’m too old to be famous,” he says matter-of-factly. “But I just want to know someone liked what I did and to be touched by whatever the hell they are listening to. I want people to see how it felt when things were real.
“You write stuff, and you want somebody to get something out of it. I just had to wait for a granddaughter and a band with her to really do anything with mine,” he concludes.
- Grand Man is out on February 14 via Congrats Records.
