Holler Live Sessions: Sam Williams

With his debut album Glasshouse Children, and it's deluxe edition Tilted Crown, Sam Williams was able to introduce himself properly to a country music world who were already aware of who he was.

As son of Hank Williams Jr, and Grandson of Hank, Williams set out to leave an artistic mark all of his own, in doing so unveiling an earnest and impassioned songwriter who unquestionably wears his heart on his sleeve.

As Williams heads down the path to find what's next in his career, it feels like a pertinent time to close the Glasshouse Children chapter with an intimate Holler Live Session, recorded acoustically with his guitarist and friend Lenny.

"We're going to sing a song about lying to the ones you love" Williams explains as he introduces his first track, 'Can't Fool Your Own Blood'. A heavy, moving song he wrote with Jaimee Harris and Mary Gauthier, Williams floats on the waves of emotion that ripple from his rasping vocal, not afraid to sit with the bruises of the subject.

Taking away the atmospheric spaciousness of the studio recording, Williams' performance is grittier yet more spirited - somehow delving further down in the depths of the hurt to seek the light at the end of the tunnel.

Closing with the intense isolation of 'The World: Alone', the vivid imagery Williams' paints in his lyricism is even more focused and sharper edged here. The exasperation in his delivery as he sings provokes both the agony and anger you feel as you process losing someone; "Serotonin moving slow 'cause I'm traveling solo" Williams observes, a candid self-examination that shows the therapeutic power opening up has for both listener and writer.

A sincere and self-aware songwriter, with his Holler Live Session Sam Williams shows he is one of country's most forthright artists.

Performing his songs 'Can't Fool Your Own Blood' and 'The World: Alone', this is Sam Williams for the Holler Live Sessions.