Alex Williams Puts the Pedal (Steel) to the Metal on New Album

At his essence, Alex Williams is an acolyte of the outlaw country sound cats like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Jesse Winchester were pioneering back in the 1970s.

But on his third album Space Brain, the Pendleton, Indiana native taps into his other sonic love — ‘80s hard rock and metal — with a collection that reimagines hit singles and deep cuts from such loud hitmakers as Guns N’ Roses, Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe, Cinderella, Motörhead and Tesla into Nashville-ready nuggets.

“I didn’t record these songs to make a statement, or to tell people I’m different,” he says. “This album is just an extension of my story. I grew up on ’80s hair metal, and that music is still in my DNA. I’m always trying to make albums that represent where I’m at and what I’m feeling, but I’ve never had any sort of game plan. I didn’t set out to become an outlaw country artist. I’m just doing whatever feels right in the current moment… and right now, this ’80s metal album just feels right.”

Helping Williams flesh out his unique vision is Grammy-winning producer Ben Fowler, who enlisted some big time players to construct these interpretations, including veteran guitarists Rob McNelley (Bob Seger, Wynonna Judd), Dan Dugmore (Linda Ronstadt, ZZ Top) and Mike Payne (Luke Bryan). Together, they create an eye-opening performance that will alter the way you hear such certified metal anthems as “Ace of Spades” and “Youth Gone Wild” forever.

Rock & Roll Globe sent over some questions to Mr. Williams about Space Brain, whose name comes from a lyric in Guns ‘N Roses’ “Nighttrain,” another song covered here.

“I’m a naturally spacey guy at heart,” he adds. “So it seemed fitting for the project.”

 

When it comes to hard rock and metal from the 80s, what is your peak period? Like for instance, mine is that 88-89 era, when Headbangers Ball was hitting its stride on MTV.

The 88-89 era was my favorite period as well. Less glam, more raw, garage/blues rock influence going on around that time. Skid Row’s 1989 self titled debut and Cinderella’s Long Cold Winter are standouts for me.

 

How did you go about the process of selecting songs? Did you always have an idea of which songs would work better in a more country/roots light?

I chose songs that were more or less my favorite hits from the era that I remember hearing as a kid that really got me into hard rock/metal. I really wasn’t too concerned about if it would work as a country song or whatever. I more or less just wanted to strip these songs back to shine more of a light on the great lyrics in these songs that were easily lost or hard to hear under the noise that might have been missed but some folks.

Were there any songs that you wanted to modify but something about it just wouldn’t work?

I tried out a couple of Iron Maiden songs, but they just didn’t sit in the pocket or feel as natural to work up alternate arrangements compared to the other tunes that I chose for this record.

 

In reinterpreting these songs, did you experience a new appreciation for the lyrics to these songs? Was there one song, in particular, that revealed something new to you when translating it into a country-rock style?

If there was one song that stood out more than the rest lyrically when I was working up arrangements of songs that I hadn’t realized the depth of before, it would be Mötley Crüe’s “Wild Side.” Definitely still resonates today.

 

The version of “Nobody’s Fool” on here is brilliant. I always heard a deep roots vibe in the music of Cinderella. What are your thoughts on the band’s musicality?

Thank you very much. Cinderella has always been one of my favorite bands and I love the blues rock elements they infused in their sound. Tom Keifer is an incredible singer/musician and was clearly the heart and soul of the band. So many fantastic songs.

 

How did you arrive at the version of “Ace of Spades” that you came up with? It’s so different from the fast-paced original!

That one took a good while to work up a version with a different groove that felt natural to me, but I feel like I found that once I stopped overthinking it and just slowed it down a bit. That was the case for several of the songs I chose for this record.

 

VIDEO: Alex Williams feat. Cody Jinks “Flying High Again”

 

I love your version of “Flying High Again” with Cody Jinks. You chose wisely there. 

It goes without saying that Ozzy was and always will be an icon, and in my mind, a true pioneer of metal. My favorite song lyrically of his is “Flying High Again,” mainly because I love the line “Swallowing colors of the sounds I hear” so much. Just like the rest of the songs I chose for Space Brain, it was incredibly inspiring reworking this song. Absolute honor to have recorded this before Ozzy passed and to have my pal Cody Jinks be a part of it.

 

Tesla is another band who lends themselves so well to a country crossover. How did you arrive at “Gettin’ Better” to tackle from all the songs in their catalog?

I love Tesla, and my first introduction to the band was the Five Man Acoustical Jam album that my dad used to wear out when I was a kid. That’s where I heard “Gettin’ Better” for the first time, even though it was initially recorded on Mechanical Resonance, which is a monster of an album. I was originally going to cover “The Way It Is,” because it’s easily my favorite Tesla song, but “Gettin’ Better” seemed like a perfect optimistic closer to this album and is also one of my favorites. Jeff Keith is right up there with Tom Keifer as one of the best vocalists/frontmen of the era in my opinion.

 

Are there any plans to keep this idea going? I’m sure there are a lot of great songs from the hard rock and heavy metal era that could be grassed up beyond the 10 you selected here.

We’ll just have to see where the road takes me.

I’m sure there will be a Space Brain Vol. 2 on the horizon at some point where I’ll probably do a deeper dive into the era and take a crack at the B Sides that aren’t necessarily hits, but should have been. 

I guess we’ll just wait and see. I love country music and have a deep respect for it. I want to be selective about covering music.

Fundamentally, I’d say I’m more inspired by ’60s and ’70s music than the music from this album. But, these cover choices had a lot of meaning to me and childhood memories. It was a labor of love making this album.