Album Notes

"I usually like for my songs to tell a story, in the folk tradition. However, occasionally something will slip in that doesn't fit that mold. Mostly, I hope that those listening will hear the lyrics and enjoy the journey."
Don L Williams.

Dry Rain and Other Southern Folk Tales is the culmination of several years of effort by singer/songwriter Don L Williams. The CD contains 13 original songs and feature Don on vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, mandolin and keyboard. He was also joined on some tracks by friends and fellow musicians for harmony, bass, slide guitar and piano. "I am fortunate to have very talented friends and musicians who were willing to share their talent on my CD. I am especially grateful to my friend Nonie Eakle for playing bass on eleven of the thirteen tracks, and playing fiddle on Rainy Highway."

The songs encompass many musical stylings from the Dylan like title track "Dry Rain" to the bluesy "Baby I'm Weak" with a few Americana/Folky tunes such as "Nowhere", "Cotton Mill" and "Coal Mining Town".

"Dry Rain was written after a songwriting workshop that I attended at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas", Don says. "We heard what sounded like rain falling on the tin roof, but it wasn't raining. Someone said it was some of the Texas dry rain, and the workshop instructor thought that would be a cool name for a song. That night, I had a strange dream, so I combined the dream and the title for Dry Rain. It seems to be a favorite of those who hear it".

"Cotton Mill is the story of a mill in Suluria, Alabama, where some of my friends worked as teens, back in high school days. It is now torn down. Nowhere is a similar story of a steel mill in Ensley, Alabama. I would marvel at them pouring the red hot steel from the open hearth furnaces... now also gone. Both songs are as historically accurate as I could make them based on research. One nice thing about the song Cotton Mill is that after I posted it online, I got an email from a young lady who told me that she really liked the song. Her parents and grandparents had worked in the mill, and she and her husband still lived in the area, so the song meant a lot to her. When things like that happen, it kind of validates the sharing of my music with others".

Dry Rain and Other Southern Folk Tales was released in May 2009.