A native of New Orleans, Shawn Williams ditched her secure employment in radio to pursue her passion as a singer songwriter and performer. She has recorded four full-length albums to date. The latest WALLOWIN’ IN THE NIGHT is generating lots of love, not only from us at Lonesome Highway but much further afield. It’s a passionate and hard-hitting guitar driven project that rocks and soothes in equal measures, and features a host of New Orleans’ ‘go-to’ players. Unfortunately, Shawn’s touring van developed a serious engine issue at the start of her scheduled dates, leading to the postponement of a number of shows. We caught up with her recently via Zoom to learn more about her and the striking new album.
Such a shame that you had to abort your tour recently when your van had engine problems. What is the latest update?
I am in Georgia at my mom's right now and I am dropping the van off tomorrow to be worked on, and it will take three to four weeks to repair. In the meantime, I’m going up to New York and staying there for a couple of weeks. I'm staying at a friend's house and watching her cats while she's away, even though I’m allergic to cats. I've booked some solo shows in New York, which should be good.
What’s the situation with your touring band given that you’ve lost those shows?
I lost my drummer, who was new to the band. I’m auditioning for a new drummer at present and I expect by September or October we can pick the tour up again. Right now, I'm planning shows for late September, or early fall: things are kind of getting back to normal with venues booking three to four months in advance.
Are you originally from New Orleans?
I was born in New Orleans but moved around a lot. I lived in Georgia, I lived in New York and now I'm back in New Orleans.
I believe that in a previous life you worked in radio?
Yes. I worked in radio for thirteen years starting when I was 18 in Atlanta. I also worked in both New York and New Orleans. I was an on-air personality, a producer then I became the programme director of the stations.
Had you been writing and performing during that time?
I have been writing music all my life. I began when I was nine years old and started playing guitar when I was fourteen. I was basically writing and singing them to myself. I always hated my own voice; it took a friend in New York who made me play one of my songs for him. He told me I should be writing music, playing in front of people and recording. I got back to New Orleans and I found that people were so inviting there and welcoming, which helped me work on my fright of playing in front of people.
Did you give up the day job when recording your debut album SHADOW?
No, but when I released that first record, I was really tired of the corporate radio world. I found it so draining and entertaining has always been in my blood. So, I just quit my good paying job and worked my way up, starting with going on tour all by myself for almost two years straight with only a couple of weeks off. I was completely broke at that time but would never look back.
There’s an eclectic variety of sounds on your albums. What was your go-to music growing up?
I'm a big fan of Neko Case, Lucinda Williams and Ryan Adams. I love rock, I love psychedelic music, I love singer songwriters. I end up incorporating all those genres in my music, it just oozes out. Growing up, I listened to everything from George Strait to Salt-N-Pepa and also some New Orleans Rap. Jewel was my greatest influence. I got her first album, Pieces Of You, when I was ten. That's what made me want to learn guitar. I listened to her album and taught myself how to fingerpick, which makes me feel more in touch with the instrument. She was a big influence for me as a writer. I thought, ‘wow’ writing like that and with sarcasm. That style perfectly suited my personality.
Your song writing is hugely emotional. Quite a number of the tracks on WALLOWIN’ IN THE NIGHT read like open wounds. Is your writing personal, imagined or observational?
A bit of all three, but mostly personal with a lot of imagination.
How difficult is it to perform some of those songs live, particularly solo?
It can be hard to hold back the tears particularly when I perform this album live. I do try to hold back a little bit of anger naturally when I perform them. When I was playing What’d I Do Wrong on my live stream the other day in the hotel stuck in North Carolina, I was having to hold back the tears with that one. That song definitely brings back certain emotions. Songs like You Don’t Care at All and Everything You Stood For on the record are older songs, probably about ten or twelve years old. I wrote them when I was living in New York and I put it on this record because I can still draw from them in my current situation.
A number of the tracks are unlikely to receive radio play given the lyrical content?
Using certain words definitely portrays a lot of emotion and to take that out removes a chunk of emotion from the song. I did also make radio-edited tracks with this album to facilitate radio play.
No, I’m happy with the original. A Christmas album is probably a bridge too far but can we expect a 'happy’ album from Shawn Williams at any time?
I would find it a little tough to write happy songs because it can get a little cheesy and forced. I could write about the butterflies and the sunshine but who wants to hear that? Maybe I might release a happy album at some stage but no Christmas album anytime soon, maybe a Halloween one.
Can you tell me about your writing process?
I generally just sit down and write whatever comes to mind at that time. I write songs in five to fifteen minutes but 20 minutes max. If it takes me any longer than that I am filtering it too much and starting to think ‘what if the listener doesn't like this song?’
You chose to self-produce WALLOWIN’ IN THE NIGHT. What production experience did you previously have?
I have produced all of my records. I have progressively gotten more comfortable in the studio, particularly knowing how to communicate with other musicians. I don't know music theory or anything like that, but I found I was able to get what I wanted across a little better with this record. I recorded my third record, THE FEAR OF LIVING THE FEAR OF LOVING, on my little phone on my GarageBand app and played all the instruments. I'd never played bass or keys before.
You were surrounded by some crack players for the recording including Dr. John’s guitarist John Fohl, ex- Hurray For The Riff Raff, Casey McAllister, on keys and New Orleans roots rock band,The Iguanas, as your rhythm section. Were they all available at the same time?
Yes, they are usually around New Orleans in springtime and tour during the summer. They are on all my records except my third one, which I recorded myself, playing all the instruments during lockdown. We recorded in springtime 2021 at Blue Velvet Studios in New Orleans where I also recorded my first two records.
How do you feel about playing locally in New Orleans? Many of your peers admit to avoiding playing at home too often as they find it can be intimidating.
Absolutely not, I love playing in New Orleans. Prior to the pandemic I was playing from six to eight times a week, often two shows a night and mostly with my band. At the moment I'm generally just playing once a month at ticketed shows. In New Orleans since the lockdown has eased, places have started to open up again but the clubs have changed managers and bookers and unfortunately, most of them are going back to either traditional or cover bands. I'm not going to do that, if I were to do that I may as well go back to the corporate radio world. They reckon that's what the tourists want to hear, which is pretty unfortunate.
Is the corporate radio world very much a thing of the past for you?
Definitely, I would never go back. It was great fun at the beginning but then the big corporations started to take over the little stations and it became like any type of corporate world job. It ended up that there was no creativity and radio is supposed to be fun.
Will we get to see you perform at AmericanaFest in September?
I’d love to play but as of right now I’ve nothing lined up, but hopefully, that might change. I'm definitely going to try and book something around AmericanaFest in Nashville.
Any ambitions to make it across to us in Ireland?
I’d love to, I really want to come over to Ireland. I'm Irish from my dad's side as my great grandfather was born in Ireland.
Interview by Declan Culliton