Jake Williams is a singer-songwriter originally from Denton, Texas but now up in Seattle.
He has kicked around in the Denton music scene and now has released his first album, Blue Head
Blue Heart. The music is played well – the guitar work is excellent throughout, deliberately
understated but obviously very skilled and I love the harmonica playing (check out BlueWorld).
Jake has a good voice and who can resist a bit of Texas drawl. South American Redneck is
definitely the showpiece with its Spanish influence on the rhythms and guitar playing. Give
Me The Sun is a lesson in dynamics in the updating of American roots music. This has been
an unusual album for me, one that I was very impressed to begin with but have gone off a bit.
I have some reservations and I’m not exactly sure how to express them. It’s something to do
with the songwriting or maybe the performance. Personally, the songs don’t sound like they
are from the heart – there’s a lack of pain. It could be Jake is a good musician who is
writing songs that he thinks people will admire but lacks some originality or perhaps
that the emotional roots have been lost while concentrating on the performances.
That said, this album exhibits some fine musicianship and is full of good ideas.
