BROOKS WILLIAMS: The road to any stage in any town begins with a singer and a song. And Brooks Williams knows this road as well as anyone.

For over three decades he has played stage after stage in town after town, creating new music from the confluence of country, blues and folk. New routes from old roots. In 2024 Brooks Williams embarks on a rare solo tour and releases his first solo recording in four year. “Diamond Days” is a love-song to the guitar, to songs and to the stories that fuel a troubadour’s rich tapestry.

With one foot firmly planted in the land of his birth, Statesboro, Georgia, and the other in the land of his adopted home, Cambridge, UK, Brooks Williams is, as Martin Simpson says, “the real thing.”

His guitar style is called “jaw-droppingly effortless,” his voice is “like chocolate,” and his vast and varied repertoire of both original and interpreted songs as “wholly idiomatic and authentic.” Brooks Williams is a triple-threat in the truest sense.

Since his earliest days playing the bars and clubs in New York and New England, to his more recent critically acclaimed concerts with Aaron Catlow or State of the Union across the UK, audiences are drawn to Williams’ restless drive to light the creative spark. As Fatea writes: “he shows no sign of resting back on past glories.”

Brooks’ songs are rich narratives about adventurers, motorcyclists, lovers, losers and ne’er-do-wells, but he also champions the work of new writers like Sierra Farrell and Molly Tuttle, for example. His arrangements are vivid and fresh, Shirley Collins’ “Sweet Greens And Blues” and Annette Henshaw’s “If You Want The Rainbow” spring to mind.

To top it off, his guitar playing is fearlessly and adventurously driven with thumping bass grooves, stinging lead lines and colourful chord voicings, three-parts from two hands and one guitar. It’s a wonder to behold and is often remarked on by audiences.

Brooks Williams has played a staggering number of venues and festivals throughout the world, including Cropredy, Shrewsbury, Cambridge, Newport, and Winnipeg, and has released four more than thirty recordings for labels like Green Linnet Records, Solid Air Records, Signature Sounds and Reveal.

“Diamond Days” is a bold collection of songs, recorded solo, just guitar and voice. From the power of story in “Palomino Gold” to the regrets of “Gone And Done It Now,” from the winter chill of “London Road” to the distant hope in “Ring Those Golden Bells,” the depth and breath of his music shines on.