This episode of A Williams Life features a conversation with Reggie Garrett, a Seattle-based singer/songwriter, who plays a wide range of music, including folk, blues, Celtic and more, with individual musicians as well as his band The SnakeOil Peddlers. One reviewer noted his “mellifluous voice reminiscent of Bill Withers or Terry Callier that draws you into the song rather than putting you off.” On A Williams Life, Reggie talks about his life on and off the stage, including growing up in Cincinnati with seven brothers and sisters, life as a starving artist in New York, and, eventually, his experience teaching in a special program for high school dropouts. And through it all—music.
00:00 Introduction
00:56 Childhood in Cincinnati
06:20 Discovering Music and Artistic Pursuits
10:40 High School and College
19:41 Williams College
28:03 Starving Artist in New York
35:23 Returning to Music
36:06 Teaching
37:51 Impactful Moments with Students
38:55 Musical Evolution and Style
40:25 Acoustic Guitar
41:42 Influences and Inspirations
43:19 Songwriting and Themes
45:21 "York's Lament"
51:39 "A Woman's Work is Never Done"
55:52 "All That Bleeds"
01:00:08 "The Road Taken" (with Christine Gunn)
01:07:05 Reflections and Future Plans
Recorded at CDM Studios in New York City and Q’s Recording Studios in Tacoma, WA in August 2024.
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Producer: Jon Earle ('09)
Web designer: Kathy Bogan ('75)
