Katie Williams: 'Force of Nature'
Katie Williams ‘Force of Nature’
September 2015
Tonya Little
Norman~ Katie Williams is a relatively new musician on the scene, and she has recently put out a six song EP titled ‘Force of Nature’. The EP features several other great local musicians; Steve Boaz, Kyle Reid, Jon Knudson, David Leach, Dylan Stewart and Caleb McGee. Katie definitely got the title right, this collection of songs, and Katie herself, are a Force of Nature. Katie’s voice is strong and sultry, and her songs are reminiscent of days gone by. Katie’s style is both simple and alluring, soulful and elegant, it pulls you in and holds you captive. The entire collection can be summed up as hauntingly beautiful and spellbinding.
The first track, River Won’t Rise, is a lovely folksy song that shows off some of Katie’s vocal range. It’s a slow tune with a great rhythm, as well as a beautiful violin accompaniment.
Careful What You Wish For follows and it speeds us up a bit. It’s a sassy tune about the tangles of relationships and loyalty. It gets your toes tapping, a great gypsy dancing song.
Next comes Flavor Blonde, a tune where Katie sings how she’ll be “here sipping dark ol whiskey, never did care for the flavor blonde.” It’s a song with a bit of a warning included in it about thinking that the grass is greener on the other side.
Some Great War follows, a slow and bittersweet tune about the days of war, about thinking too highly of yourself and your legacy. It’s soft melancholy melody mixed with Katie’s artistic ability to make her voice quaver at just the right moments makes this song extremely elegant.
Trouble Knows my Name is a lively song that has a dark bluesy feel to it. Katie’s voice in this one is an exquisite mix of both soft and haunting and robustly tenacious, and it is definitely reminiscent of days long gone as she sings about working the cotton fields and coal mines. The instrumentals and backing vocals are incredible as well. The last thirty seconds features a kind of scraping sound that leaves you wondering a bit, but you can watch the video for it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=169&v=jN1EoCo4BjU and see exactly what the sound is. The imagery in the video is just as spellbinding as the song.
Half Moon Rising is something of a lullaby, again with that old world flair that is woven throughout this whole album. It’s just Katie’s voice, strong and pure and magnificent and it wraps the whole thing up quite beautifully.
You can purchase ‘Force of Nature’ on Itunes, or pick one up at a show. Katie can be found on Facebook and other social media sites, she has upcoming shows in Norman, Stillwater and Guthrie. This lovely lady will no doubt keep creating magnificent music, and I look forward to seeing what comes next for her.
