Sam Williams, the grandson of the great Hank Williams, readies the release of his debut album—Glasshouse Children—with yet another stunning single. “Happy All The Time” premiered on August 16 on The Zane Lowe Show on Apple Music 1 and is currently the cover of Apple Music’s global flagship playlist New Music Daily.
Williams co-wrote the track a few years back with acclaimed songwriter Mary Gauthier. Produced by Bobby Holland and Sean McConnell, the star-studded scaffolding on the song allows space for a shimmering vocal feature by country music icon, Dolly Parton. The wistful soundscape is a reflection of the struggles to fill the kind of void that no material wealth ever could. As the second generation of a family steeped in stardom, the message is critical to the emerging artist bearing a heavy mantle of country music tradition.
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“I’d always envisioned Dolly singing on it, so I wrote her this sincere two-page letter, and when it finally got to her, she loved the track and said she’d be honored to sing on it,” Williams said via Apple Music’s New Music Daily. “That changed everything for me, because suddenly I had this duet with Dolly Parton on my hands, and I knew I was going to have to really push myself if I wanted to write an album powerful enough to stand alongside that.”
To date, Sam has shared six songs as a taste of what’s to come from Glasshouse Children. “Happy All The Time (Feat. Dolly Parton)” was preceded by “Kids (Feat. Keith Urban),” “10-4,” ”Can’t Fool Your Own Blood,” “SHUTEYE” and “The World: Alone,” a song he released in honor of his late sister Katie Williams’ 28th birthday.
Williams performed his new track along with the title-track “Glasshouse Children” and his grandfather’s enduring hit, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” on stage at his Grand Ole Opry debut on August 15.
Listen to Sam Williams’s new song “Happy All The Time” ahead of his debut LP Glasshouse Children—due August 20 via Mercury Nashville.
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