Stan A Williams

Story

I began my music journey at age 12, when my father taught me how to play Stardust on an old Silvertone acoustic guitar. At the same time, my great uncle who used to play with all the Big Band greats gave me his Paris Selmer alto sax to start band in sixth grade. I started writing songs in 1971, then quit for many years after serving in the Army and dying of pneumonia for two and a half minutes. It changed me in a bad way. I started writing again in the mid eighties and picked up the sax again, playing in local community bands. In 1997 I won a Gibson J-200 Custom Shop guitar from KVET/KASE radio in Austin. That started me on my current path, writing in earnest. I picked up a used tenor sax on eBay for $200 that was broken, took it in to Austin Brass and got it fixed, only to find out it was a Paris Selmer 1959 Mark VI, the holy grail of tenor saxes. I’ve been playing it professionally ever since. I had a need for the tools to make my music and the universe provided ... how cool is that?

Profile

Instruments

Genres

Influences

Equipment

Languages

What is music to you? What does it give you?

Music is the voice and vibrancy of the soul. It is that which shuts out the noise of the world and gives the inner self what it needs to express love, hate, joy, hurt ... all the emotions put into frequency vibrations that translate to the heart.

What is your music dream?

I dream of my music reaching someone on an emotional level and giving them just what they need to hear at one exact moment in time.

If you could change the world - what would you start with?

Shattering ignorance and hate with love through the common language of music.

Which is the most memorable song from your childhood?

Elvis - Hound Dog

Who are your favorite musical artists or bands?

Elvis, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Simon & Garfunkel, LED Zeppelin, Heart, John Denver, Black Sabbath, Ten Years After, Steppenwolf, Andres Segovia, Mozart, Lorena McKinnit

What inspires you to make music?

It is the key to unleash the anguish, torment and joy of the soul into the world.

What is the message you want to send with your music?

Life matters, shared life connects.

How do you feel when you perform in front of an audience?

Scared to death ...exhilarated...grateful.

How do you see the musicians’ reality nowadays? What could be improved?

The services that take our music to the public are taking the lion’s share of profits, leaving nothing for those that create the music. Greed abounds for those in power.

What do you think of Drooble?

Too soon to tell, ask me later.

What frustrates you most as a musician?

Not being able to find the right chords in the right combination to express my ideas, not being a master of every instrument to be able to put every voice needed into a song.

Do you support your local scene as a fan? How?

By going out to hear local musicians, putting some extra tip money in their jar and telling them how much their music meant to me.

What qualities should a musician nowadays have in order to get their music heard by a larger audience?

Have something meaningful to say, the technical ability to say it well and the luck and connections to find the right people to bring it forward.

Share some awesome artists that we’ve never heard of.

Me. My current band, Carte Blanche. Loreena McKinnit, Leah