By Aaron Brand
Texarkana Gazette
TEXARKANA, Texas - When Grammy Award-winning singer Zach Williams brings his "Rescue Story" songs to Texarkana, he's sure to fill the Perot Theatre with music that speaks to a renewed faith that strengthened his life.
Williams plays the Perot on Friday, Oct. 25, as one stop on his The Rescue Story Tour, armed with songs from his new album of the same name.
The sophomore release is a follow-up to the award-winning "Chain Breaker," which came out two years ago, and the Jonesboro, Arkansas-born singer says these new songs are more personal. He has quite the personal story to tell, having grown up in a happy home only to succumb to bouts of drug and alcohol use as he first made his name in music.
Restored by his re-commitment to faith, Williams then found his life was on firmer footing. From there, a career in Christian music blossomed.
Music was always in his past, Williams explains. "My dad was a worship leader, so I grew up in church and grew up going to music practice with him as a kid and just being around music." At the time, Williams didn't have designs to play music, but when he ventured off to college, that changed.
"I went to school on a basketball scholarship and I tore five ligaments in my ankle my freshman season right before our first game," Williams said. In his downtime, his roommate's guitar enticed him to play music. He taught himself the instrument. "I just fell in love with music," he said.
But he was struggling to keep his nose clean, as he put it, making bad decisions with drugs and drinking. That fit the image of a rock star he had in his mind. "This is kind of the territory, this is what goes along with it," he recalled.
From the time he was 19 to about 33, he says, he lived a hard lifestyle. "Every night was a party," Williams recalled. "Not really knowing what the morning was going to bring." To him, it was like playing a character as a rock-and-roll frontman - that is until 2012 when he gave his life to God.
"I heard a song by Big Daddy Weave while we were touring Europe come across the radio station and it stopped me dead in my tracks," Williams said. He called his wife, left the tour and went home, where he and his wife started attending church.
For Williams, his relationship to music has, thus, changed dramatically.
"I remember the first time I led worship in church. I remember the first time standing on a stage, leading Christian music. It was a really powerful moment for me because I had grown up listening to Christian music on my dad's job site," Williams recalled. At a construction job, the Christian music would be going, which a younger Zach found cheesy.
But Williams finally felt it when he was on up stage leading worship after 20 years with these songs as part of his DNA. "I just remember standing on stage for the first time it was really the first time I remember just kind of getting lost in the moment," he said. He realized it wasn't about him up there, it was about the relationship with God.
"That was the first time I really ever felt comfortable in my own skin as a musician or as an artist," Williams said. He decided what he was doing, he'd do it for God. He could be himself and allow a higher power to lead the way.
"It's been a full circle thing," Williams says, reflecting on this journey.
Expect him to play his 10 new songs and several from his first album. He's not a bells and whistles kind of performer, he admits, more of a singer-songwriter who shares "songs from the heart," as he puts it.
"For me, I'm going to share my story, I'm going to share my heart," Williams said. Hopefully, the audience will find that connection when he plays these songs. Although he's not based in his home state now, he loves Arkansas.
"I'm looking forward to being back in the area," Williams said. "It should be fun."
Show time is 7 p.m. Josh Baldwin opens.
(Tickets: $45 or $25 reserved, or $100 or $50 for VIP meet-and-greet. Get tickets at PerotTheatre.com or LiveShowEvents.net.)