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SOULFUL soft rock debut album Grand Man by ‘hidden talent’ Rusty Williams drops tomorrow.
Recorded from 1972 to 1983, the 13-track creation will finally see the light of day.
The 78 year-old’s long-time music production partner, Frank Morris, unearthed the work, which got Rusty’s granddaughter Hayley Williams, of the band Paramore, encouraging him to share it with the world.
His first-ever single titled Knocking (At Your Door) off the album released on January 14.
“Grandad has a way of cutting to the core of a feeling, and not overcomplicating it. Which we tend to do, because the world is hard. It’s nice when you can hear something plain and simple and know that it is true,” Hayley said in a statement, describing his lyrical approach.
The album is set to release under Congrats Records, Hayley’s bandmate Zac Farro’s label.
“I thought that it was a crime that these songs were sitting there on the shelf,” Zac said, sharing her enthusiasm.
As for Rusty, he is not shooting for milestones, awards or a huge number of sales with this project, rather only hoping that listeners will connect to it.
“I don’t expect anything, and I’m too old to be famous,” Rusty said in an interview.
“But I just want to know someone liked what I did, and to be touched by whatever they are listening to. I want people to see how it felt when things were real,” he added.
“You write stuff, and you want somebody to get something out of it, I just had to wait for a granddaughter and a band with her to really do anything with mine.”
The artist’s only public musical contribution prior to the upcoming release was for Crystal Clear from Hayley’s debut solo album Petals for Armour (2020), where he sings and plays the unreleased song Friends or Lovers on the piano.
Rusty has privately dedicated his life to creating music. He wrote songs as a child, joined a band and penned down jingles for local businesses.
