Lifeblood
Karl S. Williams
Karl S. Williams – singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, visual artist and poet – an artist that you never saw coming. A genre defying and multifaceted musician for whom music is an urgent calling and the solution is, to love more. What makes Karl truly remarkable, is that he is unafraid - he wears his heart on his sleeve, he speaks universal truths and he crosses boundaries. This is blues, roots, folk and Americana, if you will… but not as you know it.
Karl’s music is steeped in the swamp water of the cane country of Northern NSW, the landscape of his childhood. His songs are a distillation of life, love and the human condition. Timeless and deeply rooted in tradition, yet ever conversant with the present. As a performer, he is at once beautifully vulnerable and then transcendent.
Delivered with powerful conviction that takes your breath away, a Karl S. Williams performance is frequently referred to as a visceral and ‘spiritual experience’, leaving an audience slightly altered in the best way possible.
About Lifeblood
As far as albums go, Lifeblood is the monstrous, all consuming creative undertaking that now deserves to be heard - and like a lot of people, Karl is angry. Written and recorded against the backdrop of several turbulent years Lifeblood encapsulates both personal trials and the heartbreak of a society witnessing its own decay. The album touches on Trump era politics, the ongoing proliferation of profit-before-people and growing disunity, disconnection and disenfranchisement in all corners.
“I feel it is necessary for any vital art to turn a mirror upon the society in which it is spawned. Ultimately a society is made up of individuals who think, feel and love - so maybe the best place to point that mirror is at the heart.”
Photos
Quotes
“I love discovering artists who have that special it – the Zeitgeist – watch out for Karl!”
“He can channel the pain of life and warp it into beauty.”
“So good it may even save your life.”
“He’s a wrecking ball, a loaded gun. He’s an unmerciful magistrate. He’s “a daisy-cutting, motherfucking judgement day.””