Out of the Family Shadow: Holly Williams, 'Here With Me'

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IT'S GOT TO suck to have the last name of Williams in country music nowadays, as people must always assume that you're related to either Lucinda or the Hanks.

And it must suck more if you actually ARE related to a more famous Williams, as the expectations for your music jumps up a notch; in Holly Williams's case, the shadows looming over her belong to her grandfather (Hank), father (Hank Jr.), and half-brother (Hank III).

The thing about Williams' sophomore album, "Here With Me," is that her family lineage is pretty inconsequential: it's an enjoyable recording because she's a compelling singer, not because she's Hank Williams' granddaughter.

Williams sings with a gutsy, warm tone that's reminiscent of a twangy Alanis Morissette, and she is at the top of her game on songs laced with confession and regret. On "Three Days In Bed", she idolizes a spontaneous — and potentially risky — tryst with a stranger, reveling in the situation's anonymity and escapism. (Speaking of other Williamses in the country world, the song makes an interesting companion piece to Lucinda Williams' "Those Three Days". It paints an evocative relationship arc, as Holly's yearning sigh of "Give me three days in bed with a stranger" leads nicely into Lucinda's harsh interrogation, "Did you only want me for those three days?")

Even the spiritually themed "Without Jesus Here With Me" takes the standard country Jesus praise and spikes it with regret. Singing about a car accident that nearly killed her and her sister, she wails, "I gladly would have died that day to save the child who went away." It's chilling and honest, and it makes all the religious praise seem just a little less uplifting: after all, sometimes things work out in ways that no religion can explain.

Williams sounds least distinctive when her lyrics veer into inspirational cliches — "Let Her Go" is just a little too much like "Born to Fly" but her more contemplative moments more than make up for those rare missteps.

Written by Express contributor Catherine Lewis
Photo courtesy Autumn de'Wilde