On Tuesday, May 6th, I had the amazing opportunity to attend an intimate series concert by William Fitzsimmons at The Englert Theatre. Two weeks prior, I had “liked” and “shared” a picture off of William Fitzsimmons’ Facebook page in attempts to win two free tickets. The following week, I awoke to a notification on my phone saying I had won!
For those of you who haven’t heard of William Fitzsimmons, I recommend you look him up…immediately. He is, personally, one of my favorite singer/song writers. His music is beautiful and haunting– full of majestic melodies, poignant harmonies, superb accompaniment, and expressive lyrics. His songs are soothing, profound, and, although often melancholy, they are relatable no matter what path life has you traveling down.
As you can imagine, I was ecstatic at the opportunity to see William perform. The night of the concert, a friend and I arrived at the Englert and learned the concert was part of an intimate series and all of the seating was on the main stage. We sat in the third row on the left side. Never before had I been this close to such an esteemed artist. The concert was amazing. William and his band performed with such ease and comfort. He sang songs off of his new album Lions, which is now available for purchase, as well as songs from his older albums. I was almost in a trance from the tranquil and gentle nature of the songs, however, between each song, William actively engaged the audience with jokes and stories alike. At the end of the concert, William was encored back onto the stage, and we were lucky enough to hear a few more songs.
After the concert, William welcomed the audience to stay after if they were interested in meeting him. Of course, I had to stay to meet him. After a few minutes, William came out to meet the fans that had stayed. Once the group ahead of us was finished, my friend and I introduced ourselves to William and became engaged in conversation. It was at this point that I mentioned I was going to be writing an article about the concert, and William generously offered to do a phone interview with me! I think my heart momentarily stopped beating.
That was officially the best concert I have ever attended.
On May 12th, I was able to catch up with William to ask him a few questions as he was traveling through the Rockies towards his next show in Salt Lake City, Utah.
I first asked William how long he has been involved in music for, to which he instantly replied, “Forever!” He said that his family is musical, so it was there from the very beginning. He had a piano in his house growing up and his parents were singers. William didn’t think about going professional until later. When he was younger he had no particular ambitions, but once he was older it just seemed foolish not to become more involved.
I then asked who it was that inspires William the most. He said in regards to songwriting, “The people close to me.” No matter what season of life he’s in, William believes that people’s stories should be shared and respected. William is also greatly inspired by the biological mothers of his kids.
Having once been interested in music as a career, I thought it best to ask William what kind of advice he would give to a young artist. He explained that there are only certain things that are in your control, such as: practicing, studying, and being mindful of music; however, some things are just out of your control. William says, “I’m lucky, but there’s no guarantee.” Basically, you can’t find assurance that you’ll be successful, but that’s when you have to determine if that is going to influence what you do. William believes that you have to “Be pleased with yourself at the end” and that’s what really matters. You’ll be the one who has to live with your life if you compromise.
I then asked William what his favorite song that he has written is. He answered, “The ones the fans love are either the ones I love or end up being my least favorite.” Currently, William’s favorite is his new album’s namesake, “Lions”. He says it just gets him every time. Overall, his favorite would have to be “I Don’t Feel It Anymore”. He says people have shared vulnerable stories about this song, which makes him feel a connection to them. His first song, however, was “Passion Play”—the first song he actually sat down and thought about, whereas he feels he was just messing around with his music before. William’s favorite place to perform is in Europe, or in his words, “LOVE EUROPE!” he said it’s beautiful and he had always wanted to go there as a child, but never thought he would. He is also excited to go to the East and perform in Japan and China.
Overall, William feels that his greatest accomplishment has been being able to have an affect on people. “Little awards and recognition can’t compare to people saying the things I’ve wrote have helped them through something in their life.”
When I finished going through the questions I had prepared for William, I asked if he had anything else he wanted to share. He said that he had recently heard from the biological mother of his eldest daughter, which is very relevant to his albums and it makes him wonder how these songs and stories will continue to grow and change. “The songs mark a period of time…nothing is final.”
Another important part of William’s life is his family. You can tell by the love in his voice that his children mean the world to him. He adopted his three year old and three month old, which he called “A long journey”, but then said he wouldn’t change a second of it. Traveling is hard for William, but his ultimate goal would be having his family travel with him on tour. He believes it would be a gift to a child to have that experience because travel is important. Overall, though, “Being together is what matters.”
William Fitzsimmons is chill, down-to-earth, and a seriously talented singer/songwriter, and I am honored to have been lucky enough to get an interview with him.
I just want to thank William and his entire crew. You guys were amazing, inspiring, and I can’t wait until you come back to the Iowa City Area.
For those interested in taking a listen to Williams’ music, check out his website here.
Here is my personal Willaim Fitzsimmons favorites playlist, but honestly, they’re all amazing:
1.) Passion Play -Album: Until We Are Ghosts
2.) Everything Has Changed -Album: Goodnight
4.) I Don’t Feel It Anymore -Album: The Sparrow and the Crow
5.) Beautiful Girl -Album: Gold in the Shadow
6.) Lions -Album: Lions
7.) Just Not Eachother -Album: The Sparrow and the Crow
8.) Body For My Bed -Album: Goodnight
9.) Heartless -Single 2009
10.) They’ll Never Take The Good Years -Album: The Sparrow and the Crow
11.) The Tide Pulls At The Moon -Album: Gold in the Shadows
12.) Fortune -Album: Lions