September 30th was the last day of a thirty day challenge called 1 Riff a Day (or #1RAD) sponsored by She Shreds magazine. The challenge is simple - just post one "riff" - on acoustic guitar, electric guitar…
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Outtakes from an SCX photoshoot
Well, photoshoot may be stretching it.... Silver Cloud Express needed a band shot for the J Card of our cassette. Oh, yeah! We're having a cassette release party on June 23rd at The Flycatcher! (The question of why we're…
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creative focus
Drawing by Jessica Abel
When you juggle day job and music (especially if you enjoy more than one music project), it's a challenge to keep things going. There's gigs to book and rehearsals (to power through after a…
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across time: before & after
Across Time is another tune I wrote with my dad, Tom Williams. It was the first time since he taught me to play guitar when I was 10 that we actually collaborated on a song. I love to geek…
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little pieces of string
One of my recent songs, "Across Time", is actually a collaboration with my Dad. The first verse is "This is me, across time. I have changed. I've lost, then I've gained my little pieces of string." And…
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bass meditation
With a title like that, you could assume this will be a rumination on the nature of playing bass, the purpose of the bass instrument in Life, of or even a little haiku on the joys of bass! But no…
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It's Ric Day!
Oh boy oh boy oh boy! I'm about to do something I haven't done in a good long while - pick up a new axe! I know I might be counting my chickens since it is not actually in my…
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anticipation
Anticipation. No wine before its time. The longer you wait, the better it'll be. There are so many aphorisms in human culture related to the virtues of waiting. And we need them now more than ever in this "Distraction…
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one step closer
Here I am staring at a blank screen, wondering. What do you want to hear from me? What do you want me to write about? What can I do for you? Tell you a little about my writing process…
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Old Desert Moon
Here's another story about a song I recorded last spring at Midtown Island Studios. This one was a bit of a creeper - I was thumbing through my scribblings and scrawlings in one of my notebooks from the year…
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"Cactus" Before and After
After posting that new demo of Cactus yesterday, I thought it might be interesting to show Daddy's original words and how they turned out as lyrics. You know, something edumacational.
Also, it gives an idea of how…
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it's Hard Work
"there's a hole in my pocket, and it's leaking stars"
You know that feeling when you realize the person you dreamed you'd be by now never quite got born? The courageous hero who saved the day? The…
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Bamboo and Roses
My dad, Thomas Harrell Williams of Panama Park, Jacksonville, FL wrote this song after he got home from doing his duty in the Vietnam War. He was back living with his parents and was doing gigs at Gigi’s Lounge…
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