Rising Americana star William Prince has announced the April 14 release of his new album Stand in the Joy. Produced by GRAMMY-winner Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile), the album finds Prince’s storytelling gifts in full bloom, sketching songs that hit hard with plaintive detail and precise emotional expression. In these 10 songs, Prince works to embrace life’s small beauties, unburdened by past mistakes and circumstances. It’s an open-hearted work that’s evidence of a songwriter coming into his own, not only as a master of their craft but as an actualized person.
To celebrate the announcement, Prince shares two tracks from Stand in the Joy: Set amid a swirl of organ and sun-flecked guitar leads, album opener, “When You Miss Someone,” approaches the heart-wrenching ordeal of absence from a more optimistic viewpoint, instead considering how lucky one is to have people to miss.
The second track, “Tanqueray,” revels in the glow of new love, where every interaction is intoxicating and every gesture imbued with an unknowable possibility. William’s verses begin as spoken, but, as if swept up by emotion he can’t help, his voice rises to a rousing chorus. While the song’s romance is not without its sobering realities (“Can I meet you one town over so my ex-husband doesn’t see?”), those don’t distract from the world-opening endeavor of falling in love.
As the music of Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson mines the experiences of folks in Kentucky coal towns, William Prince’s songs excavate the circumstances of his upbringing on a Peguis First Nation reservation in Canada in search of a universal human element. Either by the grace of his generous empathy, his expressive baritone, or years of therapy, every drop of joy on his latest album Stand in the Joy seems acutely earned.
Says William: “This record acknowledges pain but does not give it power. What I hope comes through are feelings of love, peace, and strength. The strength to stand in the goodness of what you have, rather than sit in what you have lost.”
In his home country of Canada, Prince is a star: He sold-out his national theater tour (including Toronto’s legendary Massey Hall), opened for Neil Young, and collaborated with Buffy Sainte-Marie as part of a CBC celebration of her profound musical legacy. Internationally, Prince’s profile continues to grow. His 2022 included a bevy of festival performances— including New Orleans Jazz Festival, BottleRocks Napa Valley, and AmericanaFest in Nashville — as well as extensive tours across the US, Europe, and the UK, on his own and with artists like Yola and Katie Pruitt.
William Prince’s music has resonated with so many, appearing everywhere from NPR’s Tiny Desk to the hit television series Yellowstone, and a listen to any of his records quickly reveals why. Prince’s debut Earthy Days won a JUNO Award, and he followed that up with a pair of albums in 2020. The first of those, Reliever, “captures what makes William Prince such a beautiful presence” (NPR Music) and earned him his US television debut performance on CBS Saturday Morning. Prince followed that up with Gospel First Nation, which Rolling Stone called “fantastic” and was named as one of NPR Music’s favorite releases of 2020. On the back of these two 2020 releases, Prince amassed 11 awards, including Folk Alliance International Artist Of The Year for 2021 and a Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Album Of The Year for Reliever.
Later this month, William Prince will be coming to Nashville for two shows, performing as part of WMOT’s Finally Friday series at 3rd and Lindsley on February 17 and taking the stage for his Grand Ole Opry debut on February 18th.
