Singer-songwriter Randall Williams made his Homer debut last week, firing up a cold, wintry Alaska night with songs inspired by his heroes and themes taken from travels around the world.
Though it was Williams' first trip to Alaska and what a time for the Louisiana-born musician to arrive, with temperatures dipping below zero and snow piling up to the windows the threads with which his songs were woven proved near and dear to the heart of his audience. Backed by his nimble-fingered guitar style, Williams sang of brave souls that push beyond the charts' edge to explore the unknown and he sang of the heartbreak of those left behind. He paid tribute to family and friends consciously chosen, rather than those defined by arbitrarily drawn lines. He honored the conviction that peace and love will overcome challenges posed by external expectations and internal conflicts.
Williams' lyrics encompassed a horizon of possibilities. The energy of his music, the sparkle in his eyes and the intimate setting of a house concert the cozy, softly lit living room of Susan Mumma's home at the bottom of West Hill offered a time-out from concerns about snow needing to be shoveled, stoves needing to be stoked and icy roads needing to be safely navigated.
Williams moved from Louisiana to Ohio when he was in the fourth grade. While attending an alternative high school, he was encouraged to do a six-month internship program that led him to cross-cultural study in Belgium.
"It caused my eyes to open really wide to the rest of the world and to want to get back abroad as quickly as possible," Williams said.
And back abroad he went and continues to go. His songs are a travel guide to Planet Earth, with references to Germany, Lebanon, Japan, Mexico and beyond.
"That's kind of the way I see things," Williams said of travel. "It's one filter through which to view things the one that speaks to me."
Diagnosed with ADHD attention deficit hyperactivity disorder travel was, for Williams, a balm.
"All of the research about ADHD says the synapses are firing a little faster than other people's, so one of the ways I chose to self-medicate was through all of the motion," he said. "You need to tire ADHD kids out by running them around so they can sleep. I chose, rather than take drugs or drink, to travel. Most people look at me and say they don't think of me as hyperactive at all."
Music offered Williams an avenue for dealing with a less-than-perfect childhood.
"My mother took me to see 'Annie' as a child. I took the record home and sang my heart out. I really identified with her. I turned to music because it comforted and soothed me," Williams said. "When my Dad brought a guitar home my first year of high school, I clung to it and it got me out of the situation I was in."
When Mumma, director of Seldovia Arts Council, heard Williams perform in Portland, Ore., last year, she recognized him as a musician made-to-order for Alaska audiences.
"I was very impressed because of his style, his versatility with the guitar, his imagination with his music, his ability to get right to the heart of people," Mumma said. "He can be a one-man show in small venues or big venues, but he also has that extra little touch of heart that reaches Alaskans."
Williams followed up that meeting with an e-mail to Mumma expressing his interest in performing in Alaska. Before long, a tour came together. In addition to the get-to-know-him setting of Mumma's front room, Williams also performed in Seldovia, Talkeetna and Anchorage.
Having got his feet wet or cold, as the case may be in Alaska, when does he plan to return?
"We need to gravitate toward where we're getting momentum in our careers, so I would not be at all surprised if I came back before 2009," Williams said.
Mumma is just as certain Williams has a place in Alaska's musical landscape, be it giving workshops, performing or finding inspiration for his travel-infused music.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't go home with three or four songs about Alaskans," Mumma said. "He listens very well to everybody's story and it ends up being a song sometime."
For more information on Randall Williams, to order books he has written, CDs he has recorded, see where he's performing or schedule him to play in a venue as big as an auditorium or a stage as small as your living room, visit the Web at www.whereisrandall.com.
McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.
