Date posted: November 4, 2022

11/4 – Covers, Vol. 1 Out Now!

My first joy as a musician came not from crafting my own melodies or turning a clever phrase, it was simply singing the folk songs of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, and John Denver with my mother as a young child. Listening to records together or simply sitting in the loveliness of her playing hymns at the antique Kimball piano in the family room. Even when I first began playing guitar at 15, I had zero desire to write my own songs. How happy I was to play along with the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, or Judy Collins! Leaning the opening riff of Stairway to Heaven or the simple, but glorious chords of Let It Be! 

It wasn’t until over a decade later, during my years studying to become a therapist, that I had the urge to make my own songs. To try my hand at giving the same feelings of connection and peace and confusion and joy through writing and recording and playing that my heroes did. But I never lost the desire to step inside the wonder and passion of someone else’s art. To figure out what they were thinking and feeling and being inspired by when they penned and sang these timeless words and compositions. 

It is in that spirit that I chose to spend the better part of one year carefully selecting, arranging and recording some of my favorite songs to play. The selection is varied! But the single thread that runs through is songs that have been vital to me as a person and artist recently or throughout my life. The pain and rawness of Joy Division. The genius and timeless melody of Peter Gabriel. The nostalgia and brilliance of REM. My hope is that the listener will be able to experience the familiar in a brand new way, and, for the unfamiliar works, you will find connection and joy. “Covers, Vol. 1” is out now – listen to the album here: https://williamfitzsimmons.ffm.to/coversvol1