Sam Williams teams with Keith Urban & Dolly Parton on debut album

Nashville singer-songwriter, Sam Williams has announced the track list for his full-length debut album, Glasshouse Children, due for release on August 20.

Sam Williams Profile

Nashville singer-songwriter, Sam Williams, the grandson of country pioneer Hank Williams and the son of outlaw legend Hank Jr., has announced the track list for his full-length debut album, Glasshouse Children, due for release on August 20.

Among the ten-track listing is the single, Can’t Fool Your Own Blood – which we deemed our Song of the Day on February 4, as well as collaborations with Keith Urban and Dolly Parton.

Glasshouse Children is an introspective meditation on hurt and healing, growth and loss, and sin and redemption, but more than that, it’s a reckoning with fate and freewill and the family ties that bind us. William’s skyscraping vocals shine through these ten lush, cinematic songs, as he delivers gut-wrenching, honest and plainspoken lyrics with raw vulnerability and deep empathy.

A teaser clip for the project that Williams shared to Instagram on Friday (July 16) opens on a mansion built of glass, zooming in through elaborate gardens as music plays before finally finding the singer standing in one of the open doors. Lush and cinematic, the video offers a visual counterpart to the drama and authenticity of the music and its message.

Join 'Backstage Pass', our FREE members program for music fans

With the announcement, Williams also dropped the new track Kids, which features Urban on electric guitar and was produced by The Cadillac Three’s Jaren Johnston. Written by Hank Compton, Boots Ottestad, and Eric Arejes, Kids reflects the boredom and disillusionment of being stuck in the same, small hometown.

Williams explains, “Kids is a reflection of the monotonous negativity that comes with staying in the same town your entire life. While you want to get out, you still feel like a child, so you stay and continue the cycle.”

The album also includes a duet with Parton called Happy All The Time.

Williams was originally reluctant to get into the music industry (although he’d been writing music and poetry on the side for years). He even considered a career in politics and spent two-and-a-half years at University studying business, before leaving to focus on his music, releasing the singles Darkwater (2016), The Lost Grandchild’s Plea (2018), which honours his late grandparents, Hank and Audrey Williams, and Gemini (2019).

In 2020, he released a cover of Weatherman, as well as SHUTEYE and The World: Alone, a song he released in honour of his late sister Katie Williams’ 28th birthday.

Glasshouse Children is available now for pre-order.