Basic Folk Podcast: William Prince

William Prince grew up with the influence of his father’s gospel music, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and a deep love of connecting with family. His parents kept music at the forefront of his young life by performing music around the house and through their DJ business. The house was filled with records and music, so William always felt a strong draw to include it in his life. He also felt a pressure to be successful and able to take care of his family, which lead him to planning a career as a doctor. While that plan fell apart, music scooped him up. He focused on songwriting and performing for over a decade before he released his debut album, Earthly Days. Sadly, right before his album came out, his father passed away. He also ended a serious relationship with the woman who would give birth to his son. All of those major life events certainly impacted the writing for his latest album, Reliever. Even when he had been going through extremely hard times, William said “I had the faith for a better time. That’s all hope really is: borrowing from a time that things will be better.” This led him to be more vulnerable in his writing and in many ways put him on the path toward healing.

William is fairly serious and soft-spoken in his answers, but he is so open about his experience. I especially appreciated his willingness to talk about becoming comfortable in his physical body. We also talk about the experience of growing up and attending high school on a reserve. His family moved from Selkirk, Manitoba to The Peguis First Nation when he was 12 years old. There he discovered all this family he had never known before. He has this lovely rhythm to his speech and I totally meant to ask him about it, but forgot in the middle. All I can say is listen to the rhythm in the way he talks and enjoy! Also I’m pleased to mention that for the very first time, William talks about his next album that will be out before the end of this godforsaken year!