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When I set my mind out to do something, I do it. – H. Jack Williams
For this episode, we’re at Anthem Entertainment in Nashville with singer/songwriter H. Jack Williams. Anthem is one of the world’s leading independent music and entertainment content and services companies with publishing, production, the iconic Anthem Records, Film & Television, Music Licensing. As we prepped for this interview, we couldn’t help but be amazing at his career: nearly 50 years of writing songs and making music with icons like Richie Havens, The Who, Uriah Heep, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Greg Allman, Peter Gabriel, Montgomery Gentry and most recently, Kevin Costner for his band Modern West and for his hit series Yellowstone. But what is even more amazing is that Jack is still alive to tell his story, because he was so badly abused as a child. Adopted at birth through an illegal adoption operation run by the infamous Dr. Catherine Cole in Miami, Florida, Jack was raised in Eureka, Florida. His mother was a swimming teacher at the local YMCA. His father worked at the post office and was a card carrying member of the Ku Klux Klan. In this podcast, Jack explains that his early childhood was idyllic, but as he approached his early teens, his skin darkened and his father began to beat him with a garden hose, especially after he was passed up for a promotion by a black man. Jack ran away at 16 and at 17, joined the Marine Corp and became part of elite Force Recon. Now 70, this wise renaissance man is experiencing an incredible 2nd act as a recording artist with the release of his latest album Halfway to Hell which includes 10 songs he co-wrote, including two with Kevin Costner. In this episode, we learn that H. Jack Williams’ middle name should have been persistence, because he never, ever gave up on his dream to create music and relationships that pass the test of time.