HURON — Alex Williams, whose debute album, “Better Than Myself,” will be released Aug. 11, will perform Saturday, Sept. 2, at the South Dakota State Fair in Huron.
There are many different kinds of country, but when Williams with his low-slung baritone, Waylon Jennings tattoo and songs about “illegal substances” takes the stage — it’s just country, plain and simple.
Indiana-born Alex Williams quit school at 18 for a gig on Nashville’s lower Broadway, playing traditional country at a tourist draw called Tootsie’s. Looking back, he knows that probably wasn’t the smartest move. “At 18 you make stupid decisions, like thinking the key to success is Tootsie’s?” he says.
But Williams kept going, playing Waylon and Willie while writing his own material. A few years later, he left his band behind and caught the attention of Big Machine Record’s Scott Borchetta, who signed him to a deal. His debut LP, “Better Than Myself,”was produced by Julian Raymond (Glen Campbell), and is a bit of classic country candy for the purists feeling lost in a sea of pop influences.
“I knew that I wanted to make a really Seventies-influenced country album, but with a modern twist,” Williams said. “It turned out really cool.”
