The Musical Box

holly williams performs as part of the annual July 4th celebration red, white and boom - an event that just happens to be headlined this year by her father, hank williams, jr. photo by autumn dewilde.

Take a look at the promotion Holly Williams has undertaken since her new Here With Me album hit stores two weeks ago.

She has performed on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, played San Francisco’s prestigious Fillmore club and received glowing reviews from The New York Times and Chicago Sun-Times. Not exactly the flight pattern a country artist normally takes when releasing a new record.

But then, who said Williams is a country artist? Sure, there is the undeniable heritage to consider. The iconic Hank Williams is her grandfather, the rowdier and rockier Hank Williams Jr. is her dad and country/metal hybrid Hank III is her half-brother. And, yes, when you notice how the singer is being marketed (her label is Mercury Nashville) and the artists she is opening for this summer (Sugarland being at the top of the list), you can’t help but think country is unquestionably her calling.

“What I do is still singer-songwriter music, though,” said Williams who returns to Lexington this weekend to perform as part of the Red, White and Boom celebration downtown - a Fourth of July event, by the way, that will be headlined by father Hank Jr. “So I hope country music has a place for a female singer-songwriter.

“I mean, there is no Mary Chapin Carpenter, no Emmylou Harris on country radio right now filling that void. I would like to do that. But I would also still hope to play on a Steve Earle tour and than maybe a Keith Urban tour. At the end of the day, I’m singing these simple songs that I feel can be played to any audience.”

The tune that sits at the stylistic crossroads of Here With Me is Mama. Lord knows there have been enough tunes written for country music mothers over the years, although most have been penned from a male perspective. Williams’ song is more of a family matter. Its inspiration draws from childhood years when the singer’s father was away touring, leaving mother Becky Williams as the primary inspiration - musical and otherwise.

“My dad was touring 300 nights a year when we were young. We knew he loved us, but sometimes we would go two months without seeing him. So my mom was my everyday influence - even from a musical standpoint. She would play classical piano every night and was always singing in the house. She also always had this incredibly positive attitude. My parents eventually split, but she never talked down about my dad. So this was my thank you song to her.”

In the five years since the release of Williams’ debut album, The Ones We Never Knew, there was a major life interruption - specifically, a severe automobile crash in 2006 that also involved sister Hilary Williams. The experience is reflected on a Here With Me song titled Without Jesus Here With Me. The title suggests where her inspiration came from. But there was another influence at work - that of Hank Williams Sr., the grandfather she never met.

“Hank’s words taught me everything,” Williams sings. “Thank God I saw the light for me.”

“The accident wasn’t necessarily life changing in a spiritual sense,” Williams said. “I was raised in the church. But from a personal standpoint, when you’re in the hospital for a long time, you realize how much in your life you take for granted. I had broken bones in my arms and wrists but, really, I was spared physically. If you saw what happened to my car you wouldn’t imagine being able to come out of that in one piece.”

Ironically, Williams tends to distance herself professionally - but not personally - from father Hank Jr. these days in order to enforce the stylistic differences in their music. This summer, maintaining separate camps has been tough. For example, Here With Me was released the same day as a new Hank Williams Jr. album titled 127 Rose Avenue. And then there is the little matter of father and daughter Williams winding up - albeit in different sets - at Red, White and Boom.

“Musically, I don’t think there is a role for him to play with my music other than just being a supportive dad. We have always kept our musical lives unbelievably separate.

“In the beginning, I found clubs to play on my own, I found management on my own and I made Nashville contacts on my own. It was never like we were at some record company party with dad introducing me. He would never go to any of those parties anyway.

“So being on the same bill in Lexington is just a random thing, really. Every now and then I’ll get onstage and sing Family Tradition with him. Mostly though, he’s not giving me any more advice than any father would give their kid.”

Red, White and Boom begins at 4 p.m. on July 4 at the Cox St. parking lot behind Rupp Arena. Gates open at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20, $40 and $98. Call (800) 745-3000.