Music News ! Meet Dana Williams, The Singer-Songwriter Who Made You Weep In That Apple Commercial ! There’s a new Apple commercial out that’s got everyone feeling emotional. Literally everyone. Just search “apple” and “weeping” on Twitter. See? So many tears. And for good reason. In the holiday-themed clip, titled “The Song,” a young woman finds an old recording her grandmother made of Nat King Cole’s “Our Love Is Here To Stay” and transforms it into a duet using her laptop. Her grandma listens to the new cut, and — BOOM — cue your tears. In case you don’t know, the star of this ad is Dana Williams, an up-and-coming singer-songwriter from Los Angeles. “I like writing about love and loss,” she told me over the phone on Tuesday (Dec. 16). “Love is a muse of mine, and I find it really easy to write about. It’s really relatable.” Unlike her subject matter, Williams’ sound is less easy to pin down. She says that she listened to a lot of jazz growing up, like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, which had a clear influence on her singing. Yet her songwriting is more on the folky side, resulting in a contrast that’s both powerful and understated. Of course, people who watched “Rising Star” this past summer are already somewhat familiar with Williams’ folk-jazz/soul-folk vocals. She nearly won ABC’s new singing competition, ultimately placing fourth after being eliminated during the 10th and final week of the show. Dana did take home a pretty sweet consolation prize, though: some parting words of wisdom from Kesha. The “Timber” singer, who served on the series’ panel of experts, told her: “Now that you’ve lost, it should make you want it even more and make you work ten times harder towards it.” Williams added: “[Kesha] was rejected so many times, and it just made her want to succeed even more and prove everyone wrong.” Another unexpected bonus courtesy of “Rising Star” has been the singer-songwriter’s now considerably larger online following — a following that, like, sends her presents in the mail and stuff. “Receiving a gift from a stranger is very odd and heartwarming at the same time,” she said, before telling me about this one time she received a cigar from some guy who thought she could use more of a “smoky rasp” in her voice. How thoughtful of him. If you need more of Williams’ music in your life (you do), stream The Lonely One EP, plus a couple of stray songs, on Spotify. And be sure to check out some of her cover videos with middle school classmate Leighton Meester. (Yes, that Leighton Meester.) That should provide you with a couple hours of listening material before you’re left begging for more. Don’t worry — Dana says that she’s currently recording her sophomore EP, which she hopes to release in the next couple months, and she and Leighton will have another duet up on YouTube sometime soon, as well. Anyone in the New York area can catch her this Friday at The Living Room in Brooklyn. You may re-commence weeping at any time.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 05:04:12 +0000
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