Sharrie Williams Is Ready For Her Blessings

Only real deal acts get booked at Pennsylvania’s Pocono Blues Festival, which takes place annually at the Big Boulder Ski Area in Blakeslee, PA. If an artist ends up on the bill more than once, they must be the cream of the crop. I first saw Williams perform, in concert, during her second Pocono appearance in 2005. What I found was a charismatic entertainer who performs music with a message as well as a sense of direction. During her rockin’ tent revival, both the performer and audience became very excited from the volcanic energy and potent rhythm of her songs. I was perplexed and needed to discover what drives this woman to perform her gospel-rooted, rock edged blues. Williams is a survivor. She was born January 3, 1965 and was raised by a family of gospel singers and blues lovers at the Daniels Heights Projects in Saginaw, Michigan. Her story is a familiar tale that, unfortunately, isn’t common in the music world or in our society in general. Miss Williams has battled her demons and hasn’t allowed them to control her. She is a modest person, who doesn’t draw attention to her work with various youth groups in her hometown where she counsels, mentors, and performs for them. The attractive singer is instantly likeable as a person because she is a genuine individual. When you sit down and talk with her, it’s like you’ve sat down with a longtime friend who you have known for years. On the sunny summer morning that I interviewed her, she had had an espresso and was soaring on caffeine. We joked that I wouldn’t have to ask her any questions but rather I’d just listen to her ramble. Tim Holek: You began singing at the age of twelve with the Greater Williams Temple Church of God In Christ choir, recording and touring, under the direction of Hubert J. Williams. As a teenager, you performed with Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, Shirley Caesar, The Winans, and James Cleveland. Having been raised on gospel, what was it like to have performed with those gospel stars? Sharrie Williams: It was awesome. As a young girl I thought wow, how’d I get here with these guys? It was a learning point for me watching them and seeing how they entertain. [I learned] things that I should do and things that I shouldn’t do. TH: How did you transition from performing gospel to blues? SW: ’Cause I went through some things. I had a bad turn in my life. A bad marriage transitioned me into the blues, which I call my healing music. Lyrics like (“My man he don’t love me”), stuff like that I could relate to. TH: Did any one person contribute significantly with regard to getting you started as a blues musician? SW: Larry [McCray, the Saginaw based blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist, who is originally from Arkansas] is actually the person that brought me into the blues. A lot of people like to say they discovered me but I give Larry that credit. He took me step by step, put me on his stage, and took me to Detroit and Chicago. It [having someone to show you the ropes] doesn’t happen all the time. In return [of me being helped], I brought my girlfriend, from South Carolina, [on a tour of Europe]. She’s never been in Europe. They gave me the opportunity to bring a guest. I thought she deserves it. They paid for her to come. I took her over to France. She got on the stage and she tore it up. I was just proud because somebody helped me and I helped somebody. TH: You have been dubbed the Princess of rockin’ gospel blues. Can you describe your music for us? SW: It’s sorta like Tina Turner. I’m very energetic. I’m always moving so that’s the rock side. The gospel [side] is my roots. I’m always expressing the newness of life. The goodness that you don’t have to be blue. The blues is what most people are here to hear. I have to switch mentally because I’m still blue but I’m happy. Gospel is the foundation, that’s what keeps me stable. That’s what keeps me sane. That gives me the energy to do this – to even be in this life. That[‘s what] keeps me from drugs and keeps me from going off on the other edge. I enjoy myself. I wanna keep in touch with my heart. We can listen to the music and get up and dance. Then we go home and its over, but I wanna make sure when I do what I do they go home and think. [I hope they ask themselves] did you hear what she said? She said I don’t have to be like this anymore. TH: How is it that you’ve become more popular in European countries such as Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Belgium than your native America? SW: My husband and I were reading magazines about musicians going overseas. Something inside of me, which I say the Holy Spirit, said you can’t go overseas if you’re not prepared to go. So one night Lazy Lester was playing at a club in Saginaw while I was out of town. My husband said, I’m gonna go over there and I’m gonna give Fred Reif [blues promoter, agent, and manager] your card. He did that and one day Fred called and said well why don’t you come by my place? We’ll cook some Italian food. So I did. He interviewed me and said well I don’t know where this is gonna go but I’m going to do my best to shoot it to somebody. One night I was sleeping and I hear something. Something said you gotta get a passport. I’m thinking nobody [like a foreign promoter] has called me, what do I need a passport for? The next day I get up and I tell my husband I gotta get a passport. There was just this urge to push me to go do it. So I went and did everything I need to do to get a passport. Two weeks later, Fred calls me. [He says] hey I got a job for you in Germany. Wanna go? You have to go with a pickup band. They can’t pay your band. Well, there was nothing stopping me from going especially since I just got a passport. So that’s how I feel in life. God cannot bless you if you’re not ready for the blessing. You have to be prepared at all times. That’s how I started going to Europe. [Now I’m there] every other month literally. I’m blessed to go to different countries. So I’m shaking trees and chasin' dreams. TH: It sounds like your music career keeps you plenty busy. Do you get any downtime and do you have any hobbies? SW: Music is my passion. A lot of times, musicians get burned out and it is just a job. But, it is not a job for me, it is something I love. But I do go fishing. I also go hunting with my husband. I don’t know how you feel about animals but I killed a deer (nervous laughter) and I ate it (roaring laughter). I was right in the woods. I sat there and waited for hours. I got it in one shot. I took target practice. We are out in the country, so we can do stuff like that. TH: Two of your greatest influences, your mother and sister, have departed from this life. How have you been able to cope with that? SW: Of course my mom was my best friend. As a child coming up, my sister she was my friend. You lose one friend and then you say ok I got another one. Then when you lose the second one, [it’s more] difficult. It’s hard, it’s real tough. I lost my mom in 2001 and my sister in 2004. It’s still tough to talk about it. When I accomplish things, I go home and I can’t tell my mother. I miss her so much. I wanna say mom look what I did. I used to tell her that I’m gonna be a star one day. She would always tell me you already a star. Nobody knows it yet, just keep going. She would always tell me you have to have faith. You have to see yourself doing it before it ever comes reality. I started thinking wow, that makes sense. So I started preparing myself for the long rides on the train, on the bus, and on the plane. I would sit in my basement and look out at my bay window. That was my audience. My husband would come by and ask what are you doing? Oh that’s my audience (laughter). My mom, she just really encouraged me a lot. I had a complex about my color. My mom and my sisters were high yellow and me, my brother, and my dad were dark. I used to say I don’t want to be this color. My sister always encouraged me. She told me you are a beautiful black woman. I know they are watching me. They are watching me right now. TH: You had a scholarship but had to abandon it. SW: That was a music scholarship at a school in Knoxville, Tennessee. Everything started spindling down after that. That was approximately 20 years ago. (Right around that time Williams became pregnant, quit school, and married the baby’s father to be right with the church. The marriage ended in divorce. Then an abusive relationship among other despair led her to alcohol and drugs). Now when I look [back] at my life I [see I] was looking for acceptance that I didn’t get from my dad. I still don’t [get acceptance from him] but I’m OK with it today. When I was growing up, I always wanted my father to love me and to show me what love was, and he never did that. I’m OK with it today. I’ve finally conquered my father issue. You know what? I’m not going to let him leave this earth with me hating him. And I’m not going to let him leave this earth thinking that I hate him. So God fixed that for me. As a matter of fact, I wrote a song We Need To Learn and it’s an inspirational song. It’s a message and it basically talks about learning to love people even though they hurt you. In the end, I deliver a message about love. I got delivered my own self. TH: Did you seek any professional help in order to conquer that issue or other issues? SW: For my drug addiction I went professional. My five year old, who is 17 now, said mommy just go get some help. You’ll be all right. I checked into rehab and I wasn’t supposed to leave the rehab system for two or three weeks. The fourth day that I was in rehab there was a lady with me. She looks at me and I’m just sitting there balling. She sees me balling, looks into my eyes, and says you know what baby? I see the roar in you. I’m goin’ let you go to church today. I’m looking like they just told me I can’t leave the facility for three weeks. Yup you goin’ to church with the fellowship. So they put us all in this bus. There was about 100 of us. We get to the church and it’s an all white church. All of a sudden the preacher gets up on the pulpit, looks at me and said you come here. [At this point Williams gestured as if he was looking and pointing at someone else in the crowd.] And I get up there and he begins to pray for me. Then two ladies start speaking in unknown tongues. They are praying for me and all of a sudden everything went black and I past out. When I woke up or came to, I was really, really hot and on the inside I was crying so bad. When I came through, everything in my whole life – thank you Jesus – has been so different. I mean clearer colors, smell, my determination was like I gotta do this. My husband, he told me before I went in, you know baby you are a cancer and I’m gonna have to cut you off. I love you but you won’t stop doing what you’re doing but I’ll help you. Well, even as I went to rehab he kept my children. They were not his children. He didn’t know us that long and he nurtured them while I was in rehab. [In fact Pete “Pops” Crawford, owner of the Wiseguys nightclub in Saginaw, and Williams had their first date just a few months prior on January 18, 1996.] My husband is very, very proud of me and I never met a man like him. He pushes me really hard. He’s my soul mate. We are more like than we are different. He loves me and I love him. [I] finally found somebody that really loves me. I found God too. When I found him I promised, Lord if you keep me from drugs and slipping, I would tell the world about you. I don’t care how the world feels about you but I know he helped me. When I called Mary, Larry, Sandy, and Jane, they all left me hanging but Jesus never failed me. I been sober for more than ten years. I’m writing a book. It’s called My 12 Steps To Total Deliverance. It’s about what I did for deliverance. You can’t do it for people [you gotta do it from within.] I believe God allows things to happen for a reason. If you get off the path he always puts you on the right path. I’m thankful. I owe it to God. Having heard her story, I now knew, at a deeper level, why gospel is the foundation of her music and her very being. Sharrie Williams is not ashamed of where she comes from and what she’s been through. She has her fair share of horror stories like the physically abusive relationship that she endured for seven and a half years. Many of us would buckle if we had to face similar hurdles. Yet Williams overcame them and became a stronger person. It instilled a burning ambition within her that reveals itself in performance and song. There are no chips on Miss Williams’ shoulder and she is focused on the positive. “When people come to a Sharrie Williams & the Wiseguys (her backing band) show, I want people to know it isn't all about money. One, I love what I do; two, I don't want the audience to go home the same way they came; and three, God has to be in the mix.” For most of this decade, Williams has been well known overseas where she has performed in over 15 countries and has entertained at the very best clubs and prestigious festivals. Over the past five years, festival promoters in the United States have begun to take notice of Williams. She has performed at America’s better blues festivals including Chicago, Pocono, Mississippi Valley, and North Atlantic. For more than a year, Williams’ goal was to find a North American label and to re-launch herself to the North American audience. Someone is surely watching over Miss Williams as she signed with Electro-Fi Records in 2007. Her debut CD for the label was released last fall. I’m Here To Stay isn’t just the name of the CD; it’s a woman’s story of a tough, rough, gritty life and the determination to survive and thrive. The CD features 15 songs – all written by Williams – and one hour of material that is very eclectic. Sharrie Williams’ top notch live shows and her gifted songwriting skills position her at the forefront of today’s contemporary scene. Prior to the release of the CD, Electro-Fi president Andrew Galloway explained to me why he signed Williams. “I met Sharrie Williams in Lucerne, Switzerland. That was the first time I saw her play. I was real impressed with her over there. She and Otis Clay did kind of a little duet. [Some of which can be found on Clay’s Blind Pig release Respect Yourself, which was recorded at that performance]. They turned the Christmas lights on at the end of the Lucerne Blues Festival and she sang Silent Night. It was great and I thought wow, what a wonderful vocalist. Then I got to know Michael Cloeren [director and founder of the Pocono Blues Festival, where Williams has performed three times and set a record for CD sales]. He pitched me the idea of working with Sharrie. I had done a CD with Miss Angel [called That’s The Way I Tumble] but I thought maybe I hadn’t given the ladies a fair shake. Electro-Fi has mainly recorded male artists so I thought OK. I was really impressed with Sharrie and she had all original material and was a great songwriter. I knew she was a good sized blues artist in Europe. I thought it would be a cool challenge to try and shine the light on her in North America. I like the fact that Michael was very much involved. We have similar tastes in blues and he’s a great promoter. He produced the CD [with Sharrie] and did a wonderful job with it with her band. It’s going to be very interesting to put that out. I’m very excited about it. Its called I’m Here To Stay and I really think she is.” For further information about Sharrie Williams, refer to www.sharriewilliams.com and www.electrofi.com Text and Photos by Tim Holek Tim wishes to thank Ginny Buckley, Michael Cloeren and Andrew Galloway for their contributions to this interview.