Although known for his surrealistic guitar stylism, Brad Allen Williams describes himself as a “professional listener.” He serves music in many capacities—recording artist, guitarist, composer, producer—but in every role he centers absorption, openness, and response.

Although he has two music degrees (University of North Texas; William Paterson University), his most important education has come through immersion. His obsession with the recorded canon began as a child in Memphis, was supplemented by mentorship from musical heroes, and is anchored through experience on countless stages and studios around the world.

An early fascination with improvisation persisted to become a core musical value, animating collaborations and solo projects alike. It informs the openness, curiosity, presence, and relentless thirst for context that are his hallmarks—whether or not an instrument is in his hands, and whether or not the music centers the extemporaneous in any literal fashion. These qualities have made him one of the most unique and in-demand guitarists in the industry, performing and recording with artists like Brittany Howard, Bilal, and Nate Smith and Kinfolk. In every role, Brad Allen Williams brings a style that’s equal parts subtle and maximal; singular and stylized, but always in service of the music.

“The ethos of listening as a core, guiding principle comes directly from pianist Mulgrew Miller,” one of the above-mentioned mentors whose “insistence on centralizing the importance of listening” was foundational, in Williams’s own words. “In some respects, I consider myself more of a professional listener than a professional player.” That’s not to suggest that Williams isn’t much of a player; few can play the guitar like he does. But the ability to place sounds within observed context ensures that each note has weight and purpose.

Perhaps the most magnetic element of Williams’ work: a penchant for kinetic playing scans not as academic exercise, but as artistic springboard. On his 2023 Colorfield Records release œconomy, he cast himself in productive opposition to his own instrument, which he feels became “over-leveraged in the last 100 years of popular music.” The mission is at once modest and extremely ambitious: he aspires to reimagine the guitar’s role and function on an atomic level, all while keeping service of music at the center.

“I'm obviously primarily a guitarist, and there's a little bit of a creative restlessness with the electric guitar in particular, because for the better part of a century now it's been strip-mined for all sorts of cultural significance,” Williams explains. “There's very little you can do on an electric guitar in 2023 that doesn't–whether intentionally or unintentionally–evoke some past cultural moment.” 

Brad Allen Williams grounds outwardly-bold aesthetic choices in encyclopedic knowledge. The recording studio is just another instrument to him, a place where his passion for process and mechanics serves as a counterweight to the mischief. His entire world is built around the way we comprehend and respond, and when he says “I need to be well-informed about anything that I feel drawn to artistically,” it feels less like an offhand comment and more like a statement of purpose.

—WILL SCHUBE