Ontario’s Country Music Pioneers:
Brent Williams

Singer/songwriter BRENT WILLIAMS was born (Levi Brenton Williams) March 25, 1940, in Hassett, NS. He continues to enjoy a lengthy career on the Canadian entertainment scene.

As a teenager, Brent Williams performed and recorded in the duo “Brent & Harry” with a friend, the late Harry Cromwell. During the early 1960s, they both performed with “The Beck Family” band and went on as founding members of the Bluegrass band “The Birch Mountain Boys”. With group leader Vic Mullen, they became an in-demand act on the East Coast circuit, appearing on the famed Don Messer’s Jubilee show.   Later, Brent headed up “The Maritime Playboys”.

On the recording scene, Brent & Harry released a pair of albums on the Rodeo Records label, with several singles – “It Hurts To Say Goodbye” and “Columbus Stockade Blues”, released to radio

Brent William’s next musical venture was based out of Drummondville, Quebec, during a three-year stint with Quebec legend Marcel Martel; after which he moved to Toronto in 1965, where he worked the popular Yorkville folk music scene, alongside such notables as Gordon Lightfoot and Ian & Sylvia.

During the early 1970s, Brent Williams scored a pair of nationally charted singles with his Boot Records releases, “Back Home In Georgia” and “Till I Can’t Take It
Anymore”.

Later, Brent signed on with Marathon Records, releasing a series of solo albums including the debut collection, “On The Go”. The album was co-produced by Jack Boswell and Bill Bessey, with Hall of Fame session players Al Brisco and Ollie Strong. His single “Soft Shoulders And Dangerous Curves” was released on the Canuck Records label, again attracting national airplay.

Brent Williams would go on to record charted singles on the Grand Slam, Boot and Bash Record labels, and then several self-produced CD releases on his own Digby Gap label.

Brent earned a nomination for Outstanding Performance in the 1978 Big Country awards sponsored by RPM Magazine. During this time, he also won several Fiddle Music competitions.

During the 1980s, Brent Williams operated The Welland Hotel, a popular Country music club in Welland, Ontario.

In recent times, Brent Williams has also broadened his talent pool, appearing in the film “Steel Kiss”; working in the “live” musical “Café Of Romance”; and providing musical input for the CBC series, “Studio Black”.

Brent, who now makes his home in Lakefield, Ontario, was a 2013 inductee of the Nova Scotia Country Music Hall of Fame.

He recently released his autobiography : “Levi Brenton Williams -Before & After Notoriety”.