Bob Williams is a singer-songwriter who originally honed his skills in the folk clubs, bars, and roadhouses of the American Southwest.  He later moved to Berlin, Germany, where he quickly became an established act in the clubs of Central Europe.  Because of these life experiences, Williams has been able to create a unique and diverse musical style, crafting songs that explore the nooks and crannies of the human condition.

Bob's songs reflect the folk, blues, and rock traditions he grew up with in Oklahoma combined with the Central European melodic cabaret styles which later captured his imagination.  Unconcerned with artistic borders, Williams isn't afraid to travel through the many worlds of human emotion.  Listen as he strums the heart strings of Lilly Jane, a stunningly beautiful musical poem revealing the thoughts of a man on a seemingly endless highway journey to find an angel nearly too perfect to be true.  Or shake your head in agreement when he belts out his frustration in the jazzy/blues lament "Infrequently".  The title says it all.  Fittingly, Williams' songs chronicle the lives of all types of folks.  Meet the young couple Ruby and Bill, who married too young and live in a trailer park in an Oklahoma City suburb.  Or Jumbo, the Master of Ceremonies in a fantastical nightspot inhabited by denizens of the dark back streets of post-war Berlin.

Williams is known as a simple but beautiful player.  He can make a note sting or sing and his finger picking makes full use of his knowledge of unusual chordings and tunings.  Over the years he's been assisted in recording or live performance by members of Little Feat, the Bruce Hornsby and Bonnie Raitt bands, as well as members of Texas legends Ray Wylie Hubbard and the Cowboy Twinkies.  In addition, Bob has shared the stage with or opened shows for Leo Kottke, Joan Armatrading, Mother's Finest, B.W. Stephenson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Mike Finnigan and Jerry Wood, Brewer and Shipley, and many others.

In central Europe Bob often tours with other members of a well-known group of ex-patriot American singer/songwriters who make up the Hagelberger Collective.  Both in California and in Europe he works with long-time musical partner Wayne Grajeda in the duo Grajeda & Williams. You can check out their album Staytrue Street at www.hagelberger.com.

Currently Bob records for Ordnung & Hartmann Records, an independent label based in Berlin, Germany, and is at work on two recording projects: a new Grajeda & Williams effort and a solo album.  He often co-writes with label mate and fellow Hagelberger brother John Vaughan.

After nearly 25 years, Bob Williams can again be seen and heard in the US and Canada.  For these shows Bob is often accompanied by musicians such as Oklahoma multi instrumentalist Terry "Buffalo" Ware, Toronto singer/guitarist Shelley Beal, and Stephen Miller, multi instrumentalist and master of the resophonic guitar, also based in Toronto.

Wayne Grajeda
Documentary Television and Music Producer
Los Angeles
July, 2002

"Live from Jumbo's Clown Room
A sailor with a Chinese tattoo
Lonesome cowboys kiss Turks
Ride a dog called "Big Nurse"
In Jumbo's parallel universe"

"Live from Jumbo's Clown Room" ©1999
music by R. Williams
lyrics by J. Vaughan and R. Williams

photo by Susanne Blank