Sam Williams Covers Hank Jr.’s Stormy ‘Weatherman’

There's a feeling of change in the air ...

Written by Chris Parton
Sam Williams Covers Hank Jr.’s Stormy ‘Weatherman’
Sam Williams; Photo credit: Andrew Thorpe

Carrying on in the family tradition, Sam Williams offers up an electrifying cover of “Weatherman” — a stormy track first released by his father, Hank Williams Jr., in 1981.

Showcasing a lightning strike of a vocal and a modern sound that still nods toward his roots, the track is a fresh take on one of Hank Jr.’s most soulful, introspective standouts. Originally written in the aftermath of his disastrous late-’70s period, the weary midtempo is all about not having the strength to ride out another storm — but the 22-year-old says he can already relate.

“I’ve gone through a lot of storms, so to speak, and I do need blue skies and sunshine,” the younger Williams says in an interview with Forbes. “We all do. We all want to have that hope and affirm that there’s light when you make it through the darkness. I hope people can feel that I’m being genuine when I sing this song.”

Williams goes on to say he plans to cover more of his famous family’s work — but like his dad, he’ll be working with a sound that is 100-percent his own. He previously released the spacey original “Gemini,” along with last year’s “The Lost Grandchild’s Plea” and “Darkwater” from 2016, so it seems safe to say that he’s got his own musical path to follow.

“Putting my own creative twist on the record was really fun,” Williams told Forbes. “I think people are going to be really surprised one day when they see where I take the legacy and how it has evolved over time. I won’t be recreating any of my family’s sounds because I have my own.”

Williams is on tour in Europe with Cam for the Oh, The Places We’ll Go Tour, wrapping September 14 at Huxley’s Neue Welt in Berlin, Germany.