Patrick's People - Born Country

Ron Williams never had a chance to do anything but make country music. The son of country singer/songwriter Leona Williams, he was surrounded by country music even before he was born.

“Mom says that when I was a baby she’d put a blanket in a guitar case and I’d sleep in it while she was on stage,” Williams said in an interview from Nashville, Mo.

He will be featured in the Fort Scott Country Music Show at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Fort Scott Memorial Hall.

“I’m very much looking forward to the Fort Scott show,” Williams said. “This will actually be my second time at this theater and it’s a beautiful little place to play.”
He said he’ll be playing in Springfield, Mo., on Saturday.

“I  play traditional country music,” Williams said. “I was born and raised in Nashville and I live in Nashville now, but it’s not really the home of traditional country music any more. Just about every weekend I’m out of town playing somewhere.”

He went way, way out of town last year for a European tour that included performances in Scotland, Ireland and Sweden.

“I stay real busy, playing everything including little mom-and-pop theaters, festivals and fairs,” Williams said. “I feel very lucky to work shows with Mom, and we sing some duets, but I do a lot of shows on my own, too.”
He’s also done a lot of radio and television work. He was a  host of the Ernest Tubb Midnite Jamboree, the second longest running radio show in history, was formerly front man of the show “San Antonio Rose Live” from the Aztec Theater on the riverwalk in downtown San Antonio, Texas, and appears regularly on RFD-TV.

“Mom and I are going to be flying out soon to tape some more shows on RFD-TV,” Williams said.

He said that he was a staff song writer for about seven years. His credits include a co-written charted single titled “Somethin’ Like This” that was recorded by Joe Diffie, and “Before you say amen,” which was the title track from a gospel album by Justin Trevino. Another single on Music City Records was “Alone With You” recorded by Sonny Burgess.

“Mom has also recorded a few of my songs,” Williams said.

He recorded his first CD when he was in his early 20s, and has recorded three more since then.

But Williams admits that he didn’t start his music career as early as he might have. After graduating from high school in 1986 he went to bartending school, and, after a stint at teaching bartending, started working in country music night clubs. That started his slide into a country music career, because he soon found himself up on stage singing instead of standing behind the bar. After hearing crowds applaud his singing, he began to realize that he was on the wrong side of the bar.

Williams moved back to Nashville in 1992 and has been singing and writing songs since that time. He believes the great country songs, and those written in that way, are honest music that address emotions that all people feel.
“You’re painting a picture every time you sing a song,” Williams said. “If someone can genuinely relate to that song, then that is the greatest reward for what you do.”

The Fort Scott Country Music Show will also feature the Swinging West Band. Tickets, available at the door, are $10. Those 15 and younger will be admitted free.