1. RADIO ON
2. GET AWAY
3. TELEGIRL
4. OUTSIDE
5. GIVEN YOU
6. DUNE ROAD
7. I WANT TO KNOW
8. OUT OF TOUCH
9. LETTING YOU DOWN(feat-Leigh Nash)
10. 30 DAYS OF JUNE
11. EVERY WRONG TURN
12. SKATELAND SOUTH
Within each person s personal expansive collection of music (or at least within mine), there exists a fragmented, yet meticulously catalogued mental database of corresponding emotions, actions, and memories. There s always that album we play in the dark when we re feeling melancholy. And unless you re ridiculously lucky or make consistently very informed decisions, we all have that album we swear must have been bought in a state of near-unconsciousness, that gets pulled out of a dusty corner when we feel like a good laugh and a little self-abuse. Fortunately for Creede Williams, his debut album Something Borrowed makes its mark by moving around and comfortably nestling itself in a few of the more pleasant categories of mental musical catalogues. In an urge to create the perfect driving mix that complemented the cities he visited, and the feelings and memories associated with each, Williams compiles a consistent ten tracks with upbeat melodies and casual honesty. His Texas roots solidify Something Borrowed with a no-drama southern sincerity that easily lends itself to hours of unintended repetition that are, appropriately, perfect for cruising the highway. More importantly, however, the album digs deeper into a kind of movement that goes further than the traditional road trip. The real heart of Something Borrowed is in the lyrics, in which Williams manages to whip up a perfect blend of nostalgia, regret, freedom, and random hiccups of minor epiphanies. Jackson Square paints a glorious picture of the little moments that can cause pangs of hurt or bouts of extreme happiness within seconds of each other, with turns of phrase such as fifty-five/outstretched arms divide the sky from the ground below . Shoreline captures the frustration of grappling with the confusion of feeling lost in yourself, aided by an almost bitter relationship with San Francisco. On a technical level, Williams influences are clear from the start. California brings unconscious thoughts of Barenaked Ladies, while Fallen gives a significant tribute to James Taylor. Creede also channels a little Adam Duritz in the honest Lately (The End) , picking up a few of Duritz s trademark references to December, a unique but confused unidentified woman, and a troubled relationship with himself. Williams even gets some help from friends, such as Vertical Horizon, who quietly make recognizable appearances in various spots on the album. If Something Borrowed has a flaw, it s that its easy, friendly tunes mask the true honesty of Williams poetic ability. The catchy tracks flow through so quickly that it requires a few good listens to really pick up on the clever verses that really give the album its strength, without getting distracted by the shiny musical exterior. But luckily, the album is so clean, that it s far from an effort to listen the necessary number of times to really get to the real meat of the creation. Although Williams has succeeded in creating a great highway record, his debut promises to morph easily from the personal cruising music genre, to music to think by and ponder over , and back again. --CDreviews.com
There are many things you can't tell about Creede Williams from listening to his second album After the Letters. You can't tell that the Dallas musician learned to play guitar while writing and recording his 2005 debut album Something Borrowed. You can't tell that when he's not touring he works as lawyer in the violent world of professional wrestling. However, in an instant of listening you immediately notice one thing- this is an engaging, genuine and unabashedly upfront artist- and it isn't often that the music of a singer-songwriter can speak so loudly for itself. Known for his self-deprecating humor onstage, Williams has played over 200 shows in the past three years, been selected as a Coca-Cola Artist of the Month, chosen as one of the best eight unsigned singer/songwriters in America, and taken part in an unaired reality TV series that featured the likes of Eric Hutchinson and G-Love. The critically acclaimed debut, Something Borrowed, which featured the talents of the artists behind acts such as Vertical Horizon, Jackopierce and Robin Thicke, displayed an artist discovering an eye for detail and a knack for delivering colorful melodies. Williams' follow-up proves to be an even more ambitious and strongly written work. "Because I'm not a musician first, the words come first", Williams says. "I've always written short stories. I typically write a story and look at the words and it never fails that something I've written feels like the start of a song. After the Letters has a pretty clear concept that draws all the songs together. It's what happens in between-between the breakup and the new relationship, or between the lay off and the new job, or between graduation and your first job. It's purgatory. That position between what was and what's going to be....the dreaming and the being." Influentially speaking, Williams reconnected with some of his earlier favorites. He culled inspiration from R.E.M., Counting Crows, James Taylor and Van Morrison. His goal, he says, was to create something that delivered an uncluttered story in an emotionally honest way. Armed with a massive number of new songs, Williams headed to Nashville where he recorded his new disc on and off over seven months. There, he was joined in the studio by veteran producer Cary Pierce (Jack Ingram, Graham Colton, Jackopierce, Guster) and musicians that included Tommy B ( Prince, Switchfoot, Stevie Wonder), Aaron Sands (Jars of Clays, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Caedman's Call) and Greg Suran (Goo Goo Dolls, Five For Fighting, Jewel ), who helped Williams augment his songs into a collection of '90s-influenced, radio-ready songs that surge with sincerity and catchiness. After the Letters, which shifts from the charming blue-eyed soul of "Telegirl" to "Letting You Down" a compelling, emotive duet between Williams and Leigh Nash ( Sixpence None the Richer ), to the subtly twangy "Every Wrong Turn", encapsulates all the elements of the human experience, distilling the nuanced and subjective nature of our lives into twelve distinct songs. Each track tells its own story, and, in turn, all twelve work together to narrative a larger, cohesive portrait of what it means to be stuck in the interim.
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