Biography
Drawing from bygone eras while infusing her output with refreshed sensibilities and expansive emotional depth, singer-songwriter Jess Williamson produces music that registers as fully modern. Her lean, atmospheric melodies and introspective, verse-like words reflect psychedelic influences alongside the 1970s songwriters' tradition, even as her airy soprano and the fusion of acoustic with amplified elements place her alongside today's indie folk peers. Her most stripped-down and inward-facing work appeared on the 2014 debut Native State, whereas Cosmic Wink from 2018 expanded her palette via denser instrumentation and bolder studio decisions. Sorceress in 2020 saw her quietly integrate electronic accents with vintage pop flavors. Partnering with producer Brad Cook, she issued both the 2022 album I Walked with You a Ways, a joint effort with Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield, and her fifth album Time Ain't Accidental in 2023, which conveys raw feeling.
Born and raised outside Dallas, Texas, as an only child, Jess Williamson grew up surrounded by her parents' affinity for blues, folk, and country, especially the work of Bonnie Raitt, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, and the Judds. While still in elementary school she realized her love of singing and occasionally performed favorite numbers for classmates during recess. Her engagement with music deepened after she relocated to Austin for studies at the University of Texas. There she majored in photojournalism, began shooting and covering area bands for the campus paper, and soon hosted a program on the university radio station. After catching a solo banjo set by Ralph White, formerly of the Bad Livers, at a house concert, she took up the instrument herself and continued playing it following her move to New York City for graduate work.
Williamson left school to focus on music full-time and formed the short-lived New York band Rattlesnake before heading back to Austin. She began composing songs, added guitar and keyboards to her instrumental skills, and self-released the 2011 CD-R EP Medicine Wheel//Death Songs. Launching her own Brutal Honest imprint, she issued her first full-length album, the 2014 Native State, initially pressed in a run of 300 LPs on red, white, and blue vinyl designed to echo the Texas flag. Brutal Honest also released her second album, Heart Song, in 2016.
As her profile grew, the established indie label Mexican Summer reached out and put out her third album, Cosmic Wink, in 2018, around the time Williamson departed Austin for Los Angeles, where the city's vitality and atmosphere informed her writing. Sorceress in 2020 marked her most ambitious undertaking yet, with songs written in Los Angeles, basic tracks captured in New York City, and overdubs plus mixing completed in Dripping Springs, Texas.
Around the same period Williamson ended a long-term relationship with a romantic partner and creative collaborator. Though painful, the shift opened new doors. She formed the duo Plains alongside Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield, and the pair recorded the Brad Cook-produced I Walked with You a Ways in 2022, an album of emotionally direct country material. Tours with Weyes Blood, Kevin Morby, and José González followed, providing further strength. She also began dividing her time between Los Angeles and her native West Texas, where moments such as rescuing a roadside dog and falling in love again helped sustain her renewed creative drive. Returning to the studio with Cook, she channeled the upheaval and transition she had experienced into her fifth solo album, Time Ain't Accidental, released in 2023.
Born and raised outside Dallas, Texas, as an only child, Jess Williamson grew up surrounded by her parents' affinity for blues, folk, and country, especially the work of Bonnie Raitt, Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, and the Judds. While still in elementary school she realized her love of singing and occasionally performed favorite numbers for classmates during recess. Her engagement with music deepened after she relocated to Austin for studies at the University of Texas. There she majored in photojournalism, began shooting and covering area bands for the campus paper, and soon hosted a program on the university radio station. After catching a solo banjo set by Ralph White, formerly of the Bad Livers, at a house concert, she took up the instrument herself and continued playing it following her move to New York City for graduate work.
Williamson left school to focus on music full-time and formed the short-lived New York band Rattlesnake before heading back to Austin. She began composing songs, added guitar and keyboards to her instrumental skills, and self-released the 2011 CD-R EP Medicine Wheel//Death Songs. Launching her own Brutal Honest imprint, she issued her first full-length album, the 2014 Native State, initially pressed in a run of 300 LPs on red, white, and blue vinyl designed to echo the Texas flag. Brutal Honest also released her second album, Heart Song, in 2016.
As her profile grew, the established indie label Mexican Summer reached out and put out her third album, Cosmic Wink, in 2018, around the time Williamson departed Austin for Los Angeles, where the city's vitality and atmosphere informed her writing. Sorceress in 2020 marked her most ambitious undertaking yet, with songs written in Los Angeles, basic tracks captured in New York City, and overdubs plus mixing completed in Dripping Springs, Texas.
Around the same period Williamson ended a long-term relationship with a romantic partner and creative collaborator. Though painful, the shift opened new doors. She formed the duo Plains alongside Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield, and the pair recorded the Brad Cook-produced I Walked with You a Ways in 2022, an album of emotionally direct country material. Tours with Weyes Blood, Kevin Morby, and José González followed, providing further strength. She also began dividing her time between Los Angeles and her native West Texas, where moments such as rescuing a roadside dog and falling in love again helped sustain her renewed creative drive. Returning to the studio with Cook, she channeled the upheaval and transition she had experienced into her fifth solo album, Time Ain't Accidental, released in 2023.
Albums
Singles
