Songs as real as those jeans with holes you wore out yourself.
You want to hear songs about something, songs that make your heart soar while you’re driving down the long highway or make your ass shake on the bar stool.
You’re tired of all the bullshit, robot-sounding pop and the mainstream country (that’s still robot-sounding pop). And indie rock is cool and all but they’re just so damn hip. Sometimes you just want to hear songs like Neil Young or Tom Petty used to put out… but NEW.
That’s what I want to hear too. It’s a tall order but that’s my mission when I sit down with my guitar and pad and pen (remember those?) Writing timeless songs about real people, real issues, real feelings, tough songs that are still a joy to listen to. Songs steeped in the roots of folk, rock, and alt-country but bursting into flower in the 21st century.
And what the heck do I know (you may be asking)?
I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’ve played my tunes for years in New York and LA. Gotten airplay, licensing. Flirted with the industry that asked a price my soul couldn’t pay.
Then I started playing in bands with my composer husband, Jamie Laboz (The Modeens, Silver Cloud Express), in styles ranging from garage rock to punk to folk to country.
We moved to Tucson, a land filled with space and soul and grit. And many, many stories. Those stories filled me up and sonic fables started pouring out
I’m recording new songs and writing my stories and sending them out to the world each week – [sign up for the Curiosity Club and get in on the fun].
What some folks who know music have said about me over the years
What Did I Do?, the debut release from Cristina Williams Band, is an album of contradictions without compromise. Hailing from Florida and raised in a Cuban-American family, she incorporates reggae sounds “Make You Happy” along with the blues of title song. When Williams branches off into the spoken word of “Summer Moon” or the brooding “I’ll Let You Go” the breadth of her emotion is striking. Comparisons to Maria McKee and Melissa Etheridge are deserved as Williams is clearly a songwriter before all else. But she also has the ability to bring her personal and plaintive lyrics to life. Backed by a strong band, What Did I Do? has the feel of a live performance, with Williams’ energy breaking through each song.”
— Amplifier magazine
“A laudable collection that unearths such notable newcomers as…Jacksonville, FL, native, Cristina Williams.” (from a review of East Side of Fascination compilation which featured two tracks from What Did I Do?) ” — Billboard Magazine
“To answer the question the title poses, you made a damn good disc, Cristina…A song like “Make You Happy” does precisely that. It starts off in a surf-genre mood before bouncing off with a chorus featuring a Farfisa-organ sound, and a hooky nature that could have been culled from a ’60s TV show. (I can picture the girls in white go-go boots and heavy black mascara.) She’s not your typical guitar-strumming coffeehouse singer, mind you, as her voice has plenty of depth to it. Her lyrics show an investment of time as well, like on “I’ll Let You Go,” a bittersweet tale if there ever were one. Again, a really good disc.” — NYRock.com
“Imagine the self-possessed rock attitude of Chrissie Hynde channeling Linda Rondstadt’s 70’s California folk/rock cool. Yeah, wild.” — Gail Worley