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A Musical Life: Nathan Williams

Nathan Williams leads the Nathan Williams Quintet in addition to his involvement in a variety of other musical projects. He lives in Wichita.

“What is it that I enjoy about trumpet? I don’t, actually. It’s not something I’m a fan of, so that’s why I choose to express myself in different outlets. Trumpet, to me, is just a tool. It’s a way to get the voice outside.

Whenever I perform and somebody asks me, ‘Yo, how did you think you did? How was it?’ I’m, like, ‘I don’t remember.’ It was. That’s how I treat music, this thing that I naturally do. So, when with a question like that it’s usually, ‘What?’

Music starts for me, I guess, always on the inside. Music is a place that I can go, so music is almost a way of existing.”

Jedd Beaudoin is host/producer of the nationally syndicated program Strange Currency. He created and host the podcast Into Music, which examines musical mentorship and creative approaches to the composition, recording and performance of songs. As a music journalist, his work has appeared in PopMatters, Vox, No Depression and Keyboard Magazine.