Doug & Telisha Williams

Doug and Telisha are based out of East Nashville, the new Bohemian Mecca of the South.  They’re a restless sort, though, and more than anything, they call the road their home. The past few years have been filled with hundreds of shows and thousands of miles for Doug and Telisha.  They’ve traveled from Florida to Alaska and Michigan to Texas, hitting 47 US states and six Canadian provinces.  They’ve played with some of their most beloved heroes –  Lucinda Williams, Darrell Scott, Charlie Louvin, and Joe Ely – and been on stage at Anderson Fair, The Birchmere, The Carolina Theater, Godfrey Daniels, Madison Square Park and Floydfest.

Doug and Telisha write songs about a place where old time religion, superstition, run down bars, gravel parking lots and boarded up factories all mingle together.  How could they not?  They’re both originally from a small town in the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains that’s suffered with 20.2% unemployment. When you hear them sing songs about a couple of hard luck kids who made some bad decisions and wound up in jail, you’ve got to remember that Doug & Telisha are still good friends with those kids’ family.  The songs for their latest record, Ghost of the Knoxville Girl, weren’t written by people who like to imagine what it’s like “out there,” instead they came from stories told across kitchen tables or between friends after a couple of pitchers at a roadside bar.

On stage they have a stunning charisma that can transform a raucous bar into a quiet listening room, with even the most jaded hipsters waiting for the next line before ordering another PBR, then launch right into a blistering rocker that will have everyone clapping and singing along. There is something mystical about the connection of their hauntingly dark songs and their quick wit and fearless delivery that make every show original and personal.

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