As 2020 unfolded no one could have predicted the economic devastation the Covid-19 pandemic would have on the global economy. The pandemic has had one of the most destructive impacts on all aspects of show business, especially live performances. Suddenly large agencies in New York, Nashville, London and Los Angeles were reduced to skeleton crews with thousands of agents, publicists, road crews and venue personnel unemployed. The financial impact during the first six months alone exceed $10 billion in lost revenue.
Moving into a new year the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel was showing a promising glimmer and the second half of 2021 finds the concert industry limping back with managers in particular navigating a new and challenging landscape. The freedom of working out of a home office has given major industry players a new flexibility that didn’t exist in previous business models and is being embraced by a number of executives as the future of management.
For industry veteran tour manager J.W. (John) Williams this new world order in entertainment, and touring in particular, presents a new series of options. Which is why in the spring of this year J.W. Williams Productions pulled up stakes in Nashville and relocated to Madison.
Williams cut his industry teeth working for many decades with ZZ Top. He started out as a guitar tech for the band and over a 30-year history he eventually became both their trusted tour manager and ultimately vice president of the management company. This all took place via Texas based Lone Wolf Management where J.W. also spearheaded the launch of country music star Clint Black in 1989 with the release of his debut album “Killin’ Time.” More recently he has worked with country superstar Trace Adkins and currently serves as Michael McDonald’s tour manager.
Williams formative years in his native Tyler, Texas were filled with music. His earliest recollections included his mother’s church choir performances, which was his introduction to faith-based music, from gospel to traditional hymns. His father favored Bob Wills & The Texas Playboys and the Light Crust Doughboys during a time when pop crooners dominated radio. Rhythm and blues balanced a young J.W.’s musically education when his beloved nanny exposed him to vast array of blues artists, many who were from Mississippi. “Our babysitter, Cora, would very delicately change the station to the local R&B station,” recalls Williams, “where I first heard Ray Charles, Little Richard and Etta James. It was a very happy time as a kid from East Texas.”
While he may not have realized it at the time, those early years put him on a path that would define his role as a major player in the rock and country music industry. “My first real job in the business was as a college promoter,” Williams said, “where I met a local musician Jay Boy Adams. Adams was managed by Bill Ham, the force behind ZZ Top.”
Pursuits for a degree in psychology quickly faded into the ether when Bill Ham offered Williams a job at his Lone Wolf Management in Houston. Working at Lone Wolf at the side of the legendary Bill Ham was the equivalent of a master’s degree in the music industry. It was here that J.W. would guide the touring careers of a variety of Lone Wolf acts, including Stevie Ray Vaughn’s band The Nightcrawlers. He would also help launch the firm’s newest country star, Clint Black. Things moved quickly for Williams during this period and eventually Ham put him in charge ZZ Top.
Tour management requires the ability to think on your feet when the unexpected presents itself. One such occasion came in focus when ZZ Top was scheduled to play the fairgrounds in Fargo, N.D. The venue, a horse arena, had aggravated the asthma of ZZ Top’s bass player Dusty Hill. Towards the end of their set it was clear that Hill was in trouble and paramedics whisked him off to the hospital. “We were all concerned about Dusty,” remembers Williams. “The last thing on anyone’s mind was finishing the show. But Billy Gibbons grabbed me and said ‘get the bass, you’re going to finish this with me.’” The crowd seemed to love that we would finish the show.
The craziest part of the story was that Dusty had been strapped onto the gurney and placed in the ambulance with the interior light on and the rear door opened. Because of the rain and standing water the mosquito population was out of control and the ambulance quickly filled with its angry and hungry multitudes and attacked Dusty mercilessly. Being literally tied down with an oxygen mask on, he was at the mercy of the swarm as they had their way with him. He was not a happy camper that evening.
With three decades of Lone Wolf Management and ZZ Top behind him, Williams was eager to expand his horizons. The new millennium presented the opportunity to launch a new multi-million dollar Performing Arts Center for Austin’s Riverbend Church which he completed and opened in 2003.
Creating a performing arts center was a welcomed addition to Williams’s portfolio and has given him an additional skill set that he hopes to apply in Central Mississippi.
Eventually Nashville came calling where he found himself working with Mississippi’s Marty Stuart, as well as country stars Jennifer Hanson and Mark Nesler. It was in Nashville during a Hanson video shoot that Williams met Debra Wingo, a hair and makeup artist (Nicole Kidman, Trisha Yearwood, Niki Taylor). They married in 2005.
In 2008 Wingo was working with her longtime client Trace Adkins on a television shoot. Adkins had recently left his management firm and Wingo suggested that should talk with Williams. They were already friends so the new relationship was a perfect fit. Williams shared Adkins admiration for the USO, which the country music star fully supported and had visited troops numerous times behind enemy lines in the Middle East. “I’m an Army Dad with a son a 16-year career soldier with six combat deployments,” explains Williams. “Getting involved with the USO was a no-brainer. I’d always had such respect for the organization.”
Currently Williams serves as singer Michael McDonald’s tour manager. While McDonald is touring as part of the Doobie Brothers 50th Anniversary Tour Williams took advantage of the hiatus in McDonald solo touring to relocate his business to Madison.
All indicators pointed to a Mississippi move in the spring of 2021 making the most sense. In the early 80s Williams and ZZ Top’s Gibbons met Sid Graves the creator of the Delta Blues Museum. That relationship resulted in the Williams, Gibbons, Graves team creating a number of fund-raising situations on a local and national level. The Hard Rock Cafe became interested in assisting in the project. Their Muddywood World Tour merchandise raised over $1 million for the museum.
