Brooks Williams

Guitarist, singer and songwriter Brooks Williams has been a leading light on the acoustic music scene for three decades. His guitar skills are evident as he effortlessly slides in and out of folk, blues and country with a jazz player’s adroitness. It comes as no surprise he is listed in the Top 100 Acoustic Guitarists and WUMB-FM Boston's Top 100 All-Time Artists.  

Williams is one of the most versatile and entertaining performers on the acoustic roots music scene today. He walks the line between blues and Americana, but there’s a bit of jazz and rockabilly thrown in for good measure. Imagine Doc Watson, Willie Nelson, Lonnie Johnson and Blind Boy Fuller sitting in a bar having a jam!

He wraps his virtuoso guitar playing around songs with rich narratives about gold prospectors, guitar players, motorcycle riders, golden palominos and ne’er-do-wells, and sings them with a voice you melt into.

Born in Statesboro, Georgia USA, Williams moved to Boston at the height of that city’s burgeoning singer-songwriter scene. In the early 1990s, he did his apprenticeship in the bars and clubs in New York and New England and cut his teeth supporting artists like Shawn Colvin, Chris Smither, Rory Block, Leo Kottke, Odetta, Billy Bragg and Taj Mahal. 

His first album, North From Statesboro, caught the attention of The Washington Post and National Public Radio, which set the ball rolling and Williams never looked back. People took notice and acoustic music radio played him from the very beginning, including WUMB-FM in Boston, where Williams is one of their Top 100 Artists of All-Time. 

Brooks has released a staggering 31 recordings in 32 years, including Work My Claim. An all acoustic 30th-anniversary collection of some of his favorite songs, it shows off his full range of guitar styles and musical influences and features many of his musician friends. Blues Matters calls it “a career-defining statement, an important legacy, and a lifetime achievement." 

"He is quite simply one of the most unassuming, natural performers on the circuit, and his easy, relaxed manner conceals the greatest level of true expertise." --FATEA

"A consummate artist, Williams ranks among America's musical treasures." --Dirty Linen

"He possesses a melodic virtuosity on the guitar that runs like liquid from his fingers..." -- The Irish News

This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by CNY Arts.

This project is made possible with funds from the Tier Three Project Support program, a regrant program of the County of Onondaga with the support of the County Executive and administered by CNY Arts.

  ~ This project is also made possible through the support and generosity of our Folkus members. ~