Ep 7: H. Jack Williams Goes Halfway To Hell In This Interview
This interview gets deeply emotional into H. Jack Williams' new album "Halfway To Hell".
Stories from a traumatic childhood are just the surface of this new album and we get deep into the music.
Acclaimed songwriter, composer and artist, H. Jack Williams has released a deeply emotional video for âBeat Me Againâ off his new album, Halfway To Hell. The video was directed and produced by the notable and esteemed actor, W. Earl Brown, from Deadwood, Draft Day, Something About Mary, Black Mass and more along with photo director, Josh Shreve. The scene was shot at Mt Olivet Cemetery in Nashville of H. Jack WIlliams singing at his father's grave with female vocals added by Brandy Zdan. The song was co-written by Adam Box, H. Jack Williams and W. Earl Brown. Production and mixing was done at Gilded Palace by Adam Box. One of Nashville's top of the line session musicians, Matt Combs, provided all the strings on âBeat Me Again.â
H. Jack Williams was abused and beaten viciously by his father growing up, and he has channeled the feelings into the feelings on this new project in hopes others can see how he has prospered and followed his dreams of being an acclaimed songwriter. He has placed several songs on the Kevin Costner hit series, Yellowstone. Watch the video on the official artist YouTube channel https://youtu.be/yh6tmBz7rrM.
âI think the video is inspired and both of you shine on in black and white. Great choices. Congratulations,â offered Kevin Costner.
Brandy Zdan shared, âWhen Jack asked me to be a part of this song and video I knew it was something special. A song of healing and hope for himself and hopefully for many others who hear it.â
âThe song birthed almost instantaneously. The video came in a dream. They were gifts - people were meant to hear this,â expressed director W. Earl Brown.
H. Jack Williams has been described as a lyrical illustrator and a rugged poet has recorded and released an impassioned and powerful album depicting his abuse as a young child, Halfway To Hell. The ten song project was co-written by Williams on all but one song with production and mixing on all songs but one, at Gilded Palace by Adam Box, best known for playing drums with the country duo Brothers Osborne. Jim âMooseâ Brown produced âRoad To Hell.â
Stream and download Halfway To Hell on Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Pandora and more digital music platforms at https://orcd.co/hjwhalfwaytohell.
Legendary Rock photographer Carl Dunn designed the cover artwork Halfway To Hell and captured all the photographs for the promotional assets used for socials and website.
Stay current with H. Jack Williamson social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Music is available for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music. Download on Amazon Music and iTunes. Watch video content on YouTube and stay current with all updates on his website hjackwilliamsmusic.com.
About H. Jack Williams:
Youâd be hard-pressed to find a life, a career or a body of work quite like that of singer, songwriter, performer, composer H. Jack Williams. Jack himself credits equal parts luck, talent and tenacity. âMy whole life, Iâve gone out and gotten stuff done,â he says. âI think I have unique emotional connections within me, and Iâve always found a way to make that connection musically.â But for one of Nashvilleâs hardest working songwriters and most in-demand co-writers â and now with flourishing work in film and television, itâs been a one-of-a-kind 40+ year ride with some of the biggest names in Folk, Rock and Country. And in many ways, heâs just getting started.
Raised in the tiny town of Eureka, Florida, Williams began writing songs shortly after his 1971 discharge from the US Marines Force Recon. It was while working in Atlanta as a trained Escoffier chef and moonlighting as a roadie that Williams went after his first break by knocking on Richie Havensâ hotel room door. âActually banged on it all night long,â Jack laughs, âuntil he opened the door and I handed him a cassette.â The Woodstock icon invited Jack to New York City to be his opening act, eventually playing on and producing the demo that got Jack a $500 advance from Clive Davis (who insisted on first playing Jack the demo of âMandyâ). By 1974, Jack was back cooking in Atlanta when he spotted a tour bus belonging to The Who. Still in his chef whites, Williams approached the road crew and boldly asked for an introduction to Roger Daltrey. âI knew Roger loved songwriters,â Jack says,â and Pete Townsend knew songs.â Williams was ushered backstage that night and spent the next few months on tour with the band, eventually signing a deal â his first â with the publishing company owned by Daltrey, Townsend and Who manager Bill Curbishley. For two years and dozens of unmentionable road stories, Jack was mentored by one of the greatest acts in rock history. Towards the end of his Who deal, Williams got a phone call from Ken Hensley, Keyboardist and primary songwriter of UK proto-metal rockers Uriah Heep, who invited Jack to move to London as the bandâs first outside in-house songwriter. Jack jumped at the invite, and amid opening UK shows for Havens and demo sessions with neighbors like Alvin Lee and George Harrison, Uriah Heep would record four of Jackâs songs for the Gold albums Innocent Victim and Firefly. But it was a group of fellow small-town Florida boys that triggered the next chapter of Jackâs career. âLynyrd Skynyrd came to London for their Knebworth concertâ, Jack explains. âI got to know the band, played Ronnie Van Zant some of my songs, and he suggested I come to Florida and be part of the Southern Rock scene.â
Williams moved back to the states, founding the Jacksonville-based band Streets Of Ice, landing cuts with acts like Blackfoot and Molly Hatchet, and writing with Gregg Allman. Dickey Betts became a good friend and began producing the Streets Of Ice project. But when the band imploded just before signing their major label deal, Betts suggested that Jackâs songwriting skills could find a full-time home in Nashville. With a $50 loan and a one-way bus ticket, Williams landed in Nashville and signed a publishing deal with The Oak Ridge Boys, who soon recorded Jackâs songs âSeasonsâ and âEverybody Winsâ. Jack then had his first major hit, co-writing with Allman Brothers Band member Warren Haynes â Gregg Allmanâs âJust Before The Bullets Flyâ. But when the mid-â90s Country Boom began to fade, Williams returned to his culinary background, opening restaurants in North Carolina, Memphis and Olympia, and running kitchen teams on research vessels in the Aleutian Islands and Azores, and on supply ships during the Gulf War, for which he earned a Medal of Bravery from President Bush. âIâd also played blues clubs in Seattle,â Jack adds, âwhich is how Leonard Chess signed me to a writing deal with Chess Records. So I guess we can add âBlues Artistâ to the list, too.â
Williams returned to Nashville in 2005, owning a catering business while landing cuts with artists that included Montgomery Gentry, Black Stone Cherry, and on the MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN Soundtrack. He signed a new publishing deal with Lynn Gann Music Enterprises in 2015, scoring even more cuts that included Canadian artist Aaron Pritchettâs Top 10 hit âDirt Road In âEm.â âWhen it comes to commercial radio stuff, I write like a gunfighter,â Jack says. âBut at a certain point, I couldnât write another line about drinking beer in the back of a truck with a girl. I needed to find the soul of my music again.â
Jack began writing songs reflective of his lifetime of not only struggles, but his continued sense of hope. He would soon â in more ways than one â find his own voice. âPete Townsend once told me, âAlways hire a great singerâ,â Jack explains. âI never believed my vocals were that strong, which is why I always used other singers for my demos. But I began participating in singer/songwriter nights here in Nashville and got the kind of reaction Iâd never received before. When I started to sing whatâs in my heart, everything began to change.â
Williams soon connected with Academy Award winner Kevin Costner, whose band Kevin Costner & Modern West had recorded two of Jackâs songs (including the Top 20 hit âLove Shineâ), leading Costner to cut an additional five Jack tracks for his hit TV seriesâ TALES FROM YELLOWSTONE soundtrack. Jack signed with Anthem Entertainment for additional film & television work, and has since collaborated with award-winning Welsh composer John Hardy. And his 2020 EP (Already Dead) produced by Brothers Osborneâs Adam Box, became â after nearly five decades of music and adventure fit for a dozen lives â H. H. Jack Williamsâ first solo release. âI feel like a 20-year-old singer/songwriter again,â Jack says, with the characteristic combination of fortitude and poignancy that still defines his life, his career, and his very best work to come. âIâm a survivor, and I keep pushing forward. I believe that my A-game has just begun.â Stay current with H. Jack Williamsat http://hjackwilliamsmusic.com/.
Stories from a traumatic childhood are just the surface of this new album and we get deep into the music.
Acclaimed songwriter, composer and artist, H. Jack Williams has released a deeply emotional video for âBeat Me Againâ off his new album, Halfway To Hell. The video was directed and produced by the notable and esteemed actor, W. Earl Brown, from Deadwood, Draft Day, Something About Mary, Black Mass and more along with photo director, Josh Shreve. The scene was shot at Mt Olivet Cemetery in Nashville of H. Jack WIlliams singing at his father's grave with female vocals added by Brandy Zdan. The song was co-written by Adam Box, H. Jack Williams and W. Earl Brown. Production and mixing was done at Gilded Palace by Adam Box. One of Nashville's top of the line session musicians, Matt Combs, provided all the strings on âBeat Me Again.â
H. Jack Williams was abused and beaten viciously by his father growing up, and he has channeled the feelings into the feelings on this new project in hopes others can see how he has prospered and followed his dreams of being an acclaimed songwriter. He has placed several songs on the Kevin Costner hit series, Yellowstone. Watch the video on the official artist YouTube channel https://youtu.be/yh6tmBz7rrM.
âI think the video is inspired and both of you shine on in black and white. Great choices. Congratulations,â offered Kevin Costner.
Brandy Zdan shared, âWhen Jack asked me to be a part of this song and video I knew it was something special. A song of healing and hope for himself and hopefully for many others who hear it.â
âThe song birthed almost instantaneously. The video came in a dream. They were gifts - people were meant to hear this,â expressed director W. Earl Brown.
H. Jack Williams has been described as a lyrical illustrator and a rugged poet has recorded and released an impassioned and powerful album depicting his abuse as a young child, Halfway To Hell. The ten song project was co-written by Williams on all but one song with production and mixing on all songs but one, at Gilded Palace by Adam Box, best known for playing drums with the country duo Brothers Osborne. Jim âMooseâ Brown produced âRoad To Hell.â
Stream and download Halfway To Hell on Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Pandora and more digital music platforms at https://orcd.co/hjwhalfwaytohell.
Legendary Rock photographer Carl Dunn designed the cover artwork Halfway To Hell and captured all the photographs for the promotional assets used for socials and website.
Stay current with H. Jack Williamson social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Music is available for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music. Download on Amazon Music and iTunes. Watch video content on YouTube and stay current with all updates on his website hjackwilliamsmusic.com.
About H. Jack Williams:
Youâd be hard-pressed to find a life, a career or a body of work quite like that of singer, songwriter, performer, composer H. Jack Williams. Jack himself credits equal parts luck, talent and tenacity. âMy whole life, Iâve gone out and gotten stuff done,â he says. âI think I have unique emotional connections within me, and Iâve always found a way to make that connection musically.â But for one of Nashvilleâs hardest working songwriters and most in-demand co-writers â and now with flourishing work in film and television, itâs been a one-of-a-kind 40+ year ride with some of the biggest names in Folk, Rock and Country. And in many ways, heâs just getting started.
Raised in the tiny town of Eureka, Florida, Williams began writing songs shortly after his 1971 discharge from the US Marines Force Recon. It was while working in Atlanta as a trained Escoffier chef and moonlighting as a roadie that Williams went after his first break by knocking on Richie Havensâ hotel room door. âActually banged on it all night long,â Jack laughs, âuntil he opened the door and I handed him a cassette.â The Woodstock icon invited Jack to New York City to be his opening act, eventually playing on and producing the demo that got Jack a $500 advance from Clive Davis (who insisted on first playing Jack the demo of âMandyâ). By 1974, Jack was back cooking in Atlanta when he spotted a tour bus belonging to The Who. Still in his chef whites, Williams approached the road crew and boldly asked for an introduction to Roger Daltrey. âI knew Roger loved songwriters,â Jack says,â and Pete Townsend knew songs.â Williams was ushered backstage that night and spent the next few months on tour with the band, eventually signing a deal â his first â with the publishing company owned by Daltrey, Townsend and Who manager Bill Curbishley. For two years and dozens of unmentionable road stories, Jack was mentored by one of the greatest acts in rock history. Towards the end of his Who deal, Williams got a phone call from Ken Hensley, Keyboardist and primary songwriter of UK proto-metal rockers Uriah Heep, who invited Jack to move to London as the bandâs first outside in-house songwriter. Jack jumped at the invite, and amid opening UK shows for Havens and demo sessions with neighbors like Alvin Lee and George Harrison, Uriah Heep would record four of Jackâs songs for the Gold albums Innocent Victim and Firefly. But it was a group of fellow small-town Florida boys that triggered the next chapter of Jackâs career. âLynyrd Skynyrd came to London for their Knebworth concertâ, Jack explains. âI got to know the band, played Ronnie Van Zant some of my songs, and he suggested I come to Florida and be part of the Southern Rock scene.â
Williams moved back to the states, founding the Jacksonville-based band Streets Of Ice, landing cuts with acts like Blackfoot and Molly Hatchet, and writing with Gregg Allman. Dickey Betts became a good friend and began producing the Streets Of Ice project. But when the band imploded just before signing their major label deal, Betts suggested that Jackâs songwriting skills could find a full-time home in Nashville. With a $50 loan and a one-way bus ticket, Williams landed in Nashville and signed a publishing deal with The Oak Ridge Boys, who soon recorded Jackâs songs âSeasonsâ and âEverybody Winsâ. Jack then had his first major hit, co-writing with Allman Brothers Band member Warren Haynes â Gregg Allmanâs âJust Before The Bullets Flyâ. But when the mid-â90s Country Boom began to fade, Williams returned to his culinary background, opening restaurants in North Carolina, Memphis and Olympia, and running kitchen teams on research vessels in the Aleutian Islands and Azores, and on supply ships during the Gulf War, for which he earned a Medal of Bravery from President Bush. âIâd also played blues clubs in Seattle,â Jack adds, âwhich is how Leonard Chess signed me to a writing deal with Chess Records. So I guess we can add âBlues Artistâ to the list, too.â
Williams returned to Nashville in 2005, owning a catering business while landing cuts with artists that included Montgomery Gentry, Black Stone Cherry, and on the MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN Soundtrack. He signed a new publishing deal with Lynn Gann Music Enterprises in 2015, scoring even more cuts that included Canadian artist Aaron Pritchettâs Top 10 hit âDirt Road In âEm.â âWhen it comes to commercial radio stuff, I write like a gunfighter,â Jack says. âBut at a certain point, I couldnât write another line about drinking beer in the back of a truck with a girl. I needed to find the soul of my music again.â
Jack began writing songs reflective of his lifetime of not only struggles, but his continued sense of hope. He would soon â in more ways than one â find his own voice. âPete Townsend once told me, âAlways hire a great singerâ,â Jack explains. âI never believed my vocals were that strong, which is why I always used other singers for my demos. But I began participating in singer/songwriter nights here in Nashville and got the kind of reaction Iâd never received before. When I started to sing whatâs in my heart, everything began to change.â
Williams soon connected with Academy Award winner Kevin Costner, whose band Kevin Costner & Modern West had recorded two of Jackâs songs (including the Top 20 hit âLove Shineâ), leading Costner to cut an additional five Jack tracks for his hit TV seriesâ TALES FROM YELLOWSTONE soundtrack. Jack signed with Anthem Entertainment for additional film & television work, and has since collaborated with award-winning Welsh composer John Hardy. And his 2020 EP (Already Dead) produced by Brothers Osborneâs Adam Box, became â after nearly five decades of music and adventure fit for a dozen lives â H. H. Jack Williamsâ first solo release. âI feel like a 20-year-old singer/songwriter again,â Jack says, with the characteristic combination of fortitude and poignancy that still defines his life, his career, and his very best work to come. âIâm a survivor, and I keep pushing forward. I believe that my A-game has just begun.â Stay current with H. Jack Williamsat http://hjackwilliamsmusic.com/.
