ST ELEANORS, PEI, Canada – On any corner in Atlantic Canada, you may encounter one of the region’s best musicians. Meet Brent Williams, a man routinely on the road.

A reporter for Cairns Media Magazine noticed 68-year-old Brent as he sang country music, smiled and strummed instruments outside a weekend flea market here. Even just a few moments of listening made the case – this guy’s someone special, far beyond ordinary.

“I have a nice rapport with people,” he said, grinning to demonstrate it. “Over the years, I’ve gained a lot of fans who enjoy seeing me.”

“Hey, Brent Williams,” yelled a voice from among the shoppers who’d stopped for some unexpected entertainment. “I know you, man. We have some of your CDs at home.” In reply, Brent waved and chuckled.

Brent devotes much of his time to traveling between towns, performing at every chance, even on street corners and outside stores. Selling a few CDs along the way keeps strings on his guitar and fuel in his vehicle.

“I’m a showman and like to entertain,” Brent said. “I’ve done this kind of thing for a long time. It’s a way to make a living. You meet a lot of great people and make important contacts.”

Asked where home is, Brent mentions Lower Sackville (near Halifax), Nova Scotia. But he’s toured across Canada, recorded in Nashville and scored hit songs.

Versatility makes Brent musically mighty. He’s a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist capable on guitar, banjo or fiddle. “Those three instruments are plenty,” he said. “Already, they’re enough to carry on the road.

“When I play, the instruments become an extension of me. All my life, I’ve loved all kinds of music.

“I’ve written quite a few songs,” Brent said. His repertoire stretches to bluegrass, Celtic and gospel. “I’d like to release a CD of entirely my own material. That’s been a lifelong goal, and I plan to realize it.”

Using music, Brent does whatever necessary to entertain crowds, big or small. “People listen and get more from songs than if someone talks to them,” he said. “If you can work a message into a song, it’s such a powerful tool.”

When I need her touch,
And the softness of her body,
I just lie here and whisper her name.
She’s the heaven of my life,
And the hell I go through living.
And I know that she feels the same.
Oh, yes, it’s true.
It’s the woman that I married,
And I’m proud to call her my loving wife.
From “The Woman That I Married”, Brent Williams, 1977

Altogether, Brent has issued 21 CDs. They include: Reflections; A Little Bit of Everything; Bluegrass Memories; Old Country Memories; Straight Fiddle Talk; Somebody’s Praying; From Ireland to Canada; and Hobos, Trains and Love Songs.

Although not a household name everywhere, Brent counts as one of Canada’s most distinguished performers. Years ago, he served on the Canadian Country Music Association’s board of directors. He’s a past CCMA Award nominee.

“I’ve been privileged to associate with great people in the music business and to work with some of them,” Brent said. “Dallas Harms, an American who wrote great songs for Gene Watson, produced one of my albums and wrote hit songs for me too.”

We talked about you and about me,
And before I knew just what to do,
You’d fallen in love with me.
I know wrong from right,
And I try to fight
Falling in love with you.
How can I fly?
If darling, I’ve tried.
I wish you were with me tonight.
From “I Wish You Were With Me Tonight”, Written by Dallas Harms, Recorded by Brent Williams, 1978

Brent continues finding new ways to reach listeners. “Some of my songs are popular in Australia,” he said. “I’m starting to tap into that market with my Website.”

Beginning in 2000, Brent lived on Prince Edward Island for a few years. “I had a gift shop in Stanley Bridge,” he said. “Don Harron, Catherine McKinnon and I shared a property for our businesses. I built a retractable stage at the front of my store, and I’d be out there singing as people drove by. It was a neat concept, but later I went on the road touring, got rid of the place and moved on.”

Born in Hassetts, Nova Scotia, Brent grew up as the youngest of eight children on a small farm. “We all take after our parents,” he said. “My mother really influenced the music I love. She was fussy and had no time for classical, opera, blues or Celtic music. Instead, she preferred pop, rock ‘n’ roll or any happy music, especially comedy songs. Despite hardships, she loved to laugh. Country music also ranked high, but gospel was her favorite.”

At age seven, Brent started playing guitar. “My brother helped me with a few cords,” he said. “I learned the rest from records, other musicians and watching the Grand Old Opera on TV.

“Even then, I knew what I wanted to be and do,” Brent said. Despite stints of working in other industries, like hotels and restaurants, he always held tightly to music as his biggest interest.

Brent and a hometown pal formed a band, the Maritime Playboys. They sang at dances, entered contests, recorded two albums and did TV work in Eastern Canada.

“By age 17, I hit the road regularly, playing bluegrass music,” Brent said. “With each tour, the distances increased, and the time away from home grew longer.”

When the band broke up, Brent switched to mainstream country. At first, he backed up a French singer, Marcel Martel. “We toured in Quebec and New England,” Brent said. “It was alright, but I began to miss my roots so I moved to Toronto and started from scratch.

“I put together another band and worked the honky-tonks. Soon I recorded the single ‘Soft, Soft Shoulders and Dangerous Curves’ under the Canuck label, and it hit the charts. Then I started to get calls from agents and promoters.”

She’s the waitress in an all-night diner
Between Ontario and Lake Louise,
And every night I keep my truck rolling,
Only stopping for the coffee she serves me.
I call her the cream in my coffee,
And I get a kiss to settle my nerves.
The truckers are sweet on my honey,
With the soft, soft shoulders,
And dangerous curves.
From “Soft, Soft Shoulders and Dangerous Curves”, Brent Williams, 1970s

Later, Brent signed a bigger record deal, this time with the Paragon/Marathon label, leading to three albums. Eventually, he joined Boot Records, which flew him to Nashville to work on two singles, “Back Home In Georgia” and “Til I Can’t Take It Anymore”. Those topped the charts on many Canadian radio stations and led to a busy time as he appeared on popular TV shows and thrived on nightclub stages.

Throughout the 1970s, Brent traveled with a band, working clubs, playing concerts and making records. Once he won a fiddling contest at the Bon Soo Winter Carnival in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario.

By the early ‘80s, Brent hit personal problems. “The bottom started to fall out of my life,” he said. “My marriage was in trouble and my career faltered as alcohol and hard living took a toll. Yet I still lived a turbulent, reckless life, dealing with run-ins with the law, divorce and frequent relocations.” He credits “a religious experience” in a hotel room, where he had “only a bottle of wine and a Bible for company”, with redirecting him.

In recent years, Brent enjoyed one non-music activity: a spell in Ontario to help his son in a landscaping business. He has two children – a son and a daughter.

“My son was a great drummer, but didn’t pursue it,” Brent said. “Of course, he’s a master landscaper too.”

Brent met a love interest from Newfoundland, remarried and moved there briefly. Then he took his new wife to live in Nova Scotia.

Now Brent pursues music mainly for the enjoyment – for himself and everyone who listens. “Music’s been good to me,” he said. “Some people may say, ‘Look what he’s given up to pursue music.’ But if you love what you do, then you haven’t given up anything.

“Unlike most people, I couldn’t be tied down to a nine-to-five job. I’m one of the few people to earn a living from music for nearly a lifetime. Being able to say that means a lot.”

For more information: www.brentwilliams.ca

ARCHIVES