Long-distance relationships, breakups, moving to a big city, having her dreams crushed by the weight of reality and making sense out of life is what drives Brookelyn Williams's stripped-down, emotionally revealing folk songs.
Williams mixes her opera training with her love of loud smoky rock and gentle pop tunes to make Americana folk music that she said she hopes is beautiful, meaningful and brings people together in unexpected ways.
I want my music to touch people in the way that my music has touched me
she said.
Williams said she finds inspiration for her raw confessional songs from her small-town life in Belpre, her experiences in New York City and her return to Southeast Ohio to fuel her passion for journalism and music.
She has a good understanding of the big picture said Jim Harris, owner of Manasseh Records, Williams' record label.
I think on some level I'm really invested in it said Jake Householder, who grew up in the same town as Williams. She has an amazing voice, and she is able to take her songs to another level that gives more meaning to them, he said.
When she was younger, Williams said she performed in choirs and musicals in her hometown. She attended Ohio University, majored in vocal music performance and studied opera and classical music for four years.
Right before graduation, Williams decided the life of an opera singer, which included a bedtime of 8 p.m., no caffeine and lots of vocal rest, clashed with her love of loud rock bars, and she switched her major to music and media.
I loved it all
but I wasn't sure where I fit into that
or what kind of music I necessarily wanted to be making
Williams said.
In 2003, she moved to New York with a high school friend. Despite her desire for fortune and fame, Williams worked at Planet Hollywood in Times Square and delivered catering trays to the TRL studio. She had a few freelance internships at NBC studios, MTV and VH1 but nothing permanent.
Meanwhile, her friends in Ohio were learning to play the guitar, but Williams said she was too scared to follow suit.
I was terrified of making my own music because I was afraid
not of even failing
but of being mediocre
Williams said.
While walking through Greenwich Village, she said she decided that she couldn't go another day without writing music; she taught herself how to play the guitar and has been writing tunes ever since.
A year ago, Williams made plans to move to Columbus, but lost her job with Music for America, a non-profit organization that combines politics and music, after the election. At the same time, her long-distance boyfriend broke up with her.
Williams said she was terrified she would end up living at home, but a friend offered her a staff writing job at The Insider and she made the move to Athens.
Once in town, Williams said her music began to get serious and she started to write honest songs, drawing on her personal experiences.
I'm just trying to take snapshots of where I was in that second and be true to that
Williams said. It's so hard sometimes to go back and play these songs that I don't necessarily feel that way anymore
but I know I really did that day when I wrote it.
Williams is in the process of recording her first full-length album, Treading Holy Water
