Sam Williams is boldly blazing his own musical path with his new Act II: Countrystar EP, but he’s also honoring his deep family legacy while moving forward.
Williams borrows from his family’s legacy for “Honkytonkin,” one of the most surprising tracks on the new project, which dropped on Friday (July 11).
His grandfather, Hank Williams, wrote the original “Honky Tonkin'” and scored a hit with it in 1948. Williams’ father, Hank Williams Jr., landed a No. 1 hit with his rendition of the song in 1982.
Sam Williams borrows from the original chorus for his song on Act II: Countrystar, but that’s where any similarities end.
Williams wrote the song with Andrew DeRoberts and Amy Stroup.
The track is an adventurous juxtaposition of pop, hip-hop and more progressive musical elements that shatters any existing definition of what country music is — but as Williams tells Taste of Country, that’s part of his family’s legacy, too.
“I come from something that I’m proud of, and I’m different than those before me. I’m a one of one,” he says. “Oftentimes I’m not going to be comparing my music to my family’s, because it’s like walking into a trap.
“But somebody pointed out to me the journey that my dad had to go through to find his own sound and his own music, and that’s what I’ve tried to do from the beginning, is try to be myself and own all of the different sides of me.”
Williams debuted with Glasshouse Children in 2021, and he continued to build musically with Act I: Scarlet Lonesome in 2024. Act II: Countrystar features Williams co-writing all of the seven new tracks, working with an impressively diverse slate of collaborators who helped him push the envelope even further.
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That sense of musical exploration is present across all of the tracks on the new EP. The project announces its diverse and extremely progressive musical intentions from the very first track, “Countrystar.”
“Obviously, when I’m writing a song like ‘Countrystar,’ I know that this is not for Nashville’s country music scene,” Williams says with a chuckle.
“I think that my background, my lineage and how I grew up is the country in me. But country music in Nashville is forever changing, and it’s changing at a more rapid pace than we’ve ever seen.
“My intention was to branch out,” he adds. “To double down on the notion that I’m in charge of my art and my career, and not be more of a product. In this kind of modern music climate, you’ve got to be relentless in who you are.”
Another highlight of Act II: Countrystar is “Fugitive,” which Williams describes as “definitely my favorite song” on the project.
It marked his first time working with Yung Lan, who’s a prominent hip-hop producer.
“I learned a lot more about my talent in a booth. It was really fun for me to open up the world of Sam Williams. There’s a lot more to it.”
Act II: Countrystar is currently available across a wide variety of digital music providers. The project is the second installment of a planned trilogy.
Keep up with Sam Williams’ new music and upcoming tour dates via his official website.
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