Sam Williams: 'It's kind of a new outlaw era,' says Hank Williams' youngest grandson

Update: Sam Williams will not open for Brittney Spencer at the Basement East due to "a scheduling conflict."

"Sam apologizes to his fans and hopes to see them soon," reads an announcement from his label, UMG Nashville.

Sam Williams says he doesn't want anyone to think of him as a name-dropper. But in a conversation with The Tennessean, there's one person the country musician mentions that makes an immediate impression.

"I didn't mean to get so Alfred Lord Tennyson," he says, referring to the 19th century poet who brought us "Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all."

It's an unexpected pull, and one that should rightly remind you that this 24-year-old is his own man — blazing his own artistic trail just as his iconic dad (Hank Williams Jr.) and legendary grandfather (Hank Williams) once did.

Earlier this year, Williams released a striking debut album, "Glasshouse Children," which showcased a gift for unflinching, emotionally potent songcraft, and a lush sound that encompasses folk, rock and soul as well as country.

It's on full display on the haunting, string-laden title track, in which he sings "A house atop the hill/ Bright white paint/ Looks pretty as a picture but Lord knows it ain't/ 'Cause it's hidden bottles and wasted dollars/ And broken-hearted sons and daughters/ Do you think we're paying for the sins of our fathers still?"

In Williams' words, it's been "a hell of an 18 months," marked with unfathomable tragedy as well as career milestones. In June of 2020, his sister Katie died in a car crash at age 27.

As he's just embarked on a tour with acclaimed rising country artist Brittney Spencer — who comes to Nashville's Basement East on Thursday — we connected with Williams to talk about his journey thus far, and his lofty future ambitions.

Singing with Dolly

The title track "Glasshouse Children" continues to impress with an appearance by Dolly Parton on "Happy All The Time."

"We'd trade the gold for love in our hearts," they sing. "... If money could buy happiness, you'd be happy all the time."

The two connected after Williams wrote Parton a letter.

"I explained to her what the song meant to me, and there were so many parallels and contrasts between me and Dolly's life. I came from privilege, and she came from poverty. I came from West Tennessee. She came from East Tennessee. I come from country music royalty, and she made herself country music royalty. I just feel like we were kindred in a way, somehow, even when we didn't know each other."

He says Parton "changed my life" with the collaboration.

"I think it's just naturally a big flex to say, 'Dolly Parton is on my album.' But at the same time, it also gave me personal validation. I've got to not pay attention to what naysayers say: 'Hank Jr.'s kid paints his fingernails. Hank Jr.'s kid sounds like Shawn Mendes.' Because if Dolly Parton is going to stamp my forehead on my voice and songwriting and message ... then that kind of negativity is irrelevant."

"She did the song because she said she loved my voice," he adds, "and always wanted to work with someone in my family. She said she felt like she was singing with Hank Williams. I've only been with Dolly once, but she was an earthly angel."

Living with the Williams legacy

"It's something that I avoid in a lot of ways," Williams says of his lineage.

"Because I don't want people to think I'm a name dropper, or that I'm big headed. But at the end of the day, you're not born into the family you're born into because you picked it ... I have to embrace it because it is who I am. And I am the only last grandson of Hank Williams. That's just a fact."

Touring with Brittney Spencer

"We're both really, really excited to be on tour together," Williams says of the "Sober and Skinny" singer.

"We're just both (part of) a new generation of country artists that do something different, and are unapologetic in different ways than people were in the outlaw era. And it's kind of a new outlaw era: not necessarily gun-toting and getting blackout drunk, but it's being yourself and not caring what anyone thinks. And I think me and Brittney are cut from the same cloth."

A question he hears every day

"When are you doing a song with your dad? And I just say 'When the time is right,'" he said.

"It's deer season. And my dad does not give a (expletive) about making a song with me right now. He wants to kill deer."

Planning his next 'iconic' album

“It’s been a hell of an 18 months. I never thought my sister would die. I never thought I would sign a record deal. I never thought I would have such heartbreak. And I think I'm almost ready, but I'm starting to put it in the music. I'm starting to share the ideas, and I think that the next album is going to be iconic.”

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Sam Williams interview: Hank Williams' grandson on album, Dolly