Evento

Hayward Williams w/ Paul Otteson

*Artist Change* Corey Mathew Hart will no longer be sharing this bill. The amazing and talented, Paul Otteson will be taking his place

Fans of Hayward Williams soulful voice wont be surprised to hear him finally inhabiting straight-up soul territory in the new songs and arrangements, complete with layered horn sections and call-and-response backing vocals from the sibling duo of Matt and Kate Lorenz (Rusty Belle). Recorded live to tape in a whirlwind two days of sessions at Sonelab Studios in western Massachusetts, THE REEF blends a Van Morrison-esque R&B with the loose energy and charm of The Faces, all underlined by rock-solid grooves. Produced by critically acclaimed songwriter and veteran of the Americana circuit Jeffrey Foucault, and featuring Billy Conway (Morphine) on drums and Jeremy Moses Curtis (Booker T) on bass, with Williams, Foucault and the Lorenz siblings sharing the singing, THE REEF is built not around leads but around the interaction of voices with rhythm and texture. We didnt want a lead guitar, Williams says. We thought we could add one later if we really needed it. But then we realized that Matt and Kates voices were the lead instrument, the thing the held each song together, and that was more exciting. Live-tracked in one room, with each song captured in the course of only a few takes, THE REEF pulses with an electricity of feeling, an authenticity of moment vanishingly rare in contemporary recording. At center is the naked vulnerability in every weathered crack of Williams voice, cast out on the reef, calling out.