Photo by Gareth Cattermole/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
Paramore's Hayley Williams and Zac Farro have joined forces to release new music — not of their own but of Hayley's grandfather, Rusty Williams. On February 14, Williams and Farro will help release Grand Man, an album of songs that her grandfather recorded in the '70s but has never been formally released, until now.
That said, you've likely heard Rusty's voice before; he's briefly featured on the track "Crystal Clear" from Hayley's 2020 solo album Petals for Armor. Per a press release, Rusty's always had a musical streak. He wrote songs as a child, joined a band, and wrote jingles for local businesses. He also claimed to have recorded an album in the '70s, but Hayley and her bandmates didn't know if it actually existed until "it was recently unearthed by the senior Williams' old production partner," according to the release.
“So many people our age are mining these albums for tones and things you can’t even replicate," Williams said of her grandfather's music in a statement. "And Grandad has a way of cutting to the core of a feeling, and not overcomplicating it. Which we tend to do, because the world is hard. It’s nice when you can hear something plain and simple and know that it is true.”
“I thought that it was a crime that these songs were sitting there on the shelf,” added Farro, who's releasing the project on his own label, Congrats Records.
As for Rusty himself, he said about the release, “I don’t expect anything, and I’m too old to be famous. But I just want to know someone liked what I did, and to be touched by whatever the hell they are listening to. I want people to see how it felt when things were real.”
In 2024, in similar fashion, Lana Del Rey helped release her father Rob Grant's album, Lost At Sea, which he recorded with the help of his daughter and producer Jack Antonoff. The record, filled with piano pieces composed by Grant, is dedicated to his career and life at sea.
The cover of Rusty Williams's Grand Man.
Grand Man Tracklist:
Knocking (At Your Door)
Can’t Stay Away
Angel Eyes
Wanted
Fade Away
If Only For A While
Never Gonna Stop
Lovers Only Come And Go
Every Time I’m High
The Only Way For Me To Say I Love You
Riverboat Gambler
Someone Who Happened To Me
Take Me Around The World