Interview: Leslie Tom carves out stunning Hank Williams tribute record

When Leslie Tom weeps, as she does so rather profusely with “Angel of Death,” a little known Hank Williams b-side, paired to 1954’s post-humous single “(I’m Gonna) Sing, Sing, Sing,” you feel the cold, blunt weight of every syllable. Tom has a way of penetrating your soul. The singer, who returns with her first new full-length in 12 years, a tribute record called Ain’t It Something, Hank Williams (out now), manages to rebuild the Williams cut into a chilling composition. “When The Angel of Death comes down after you, can you smile and say that you have been true? Can you truthfully say, with your dying breath, that you’re ready to meet the Angel of Death?” she sings, unpacking her own bruised psyche and brushes with death into a stormy wallop of a vocal performance.

Tom’s version remains firmly planted in the Williams original, fleshed out with fuller production and harmony work and ominous dobro playing from Andy Hall, of the Infamous Stringdusters. “The song spoke to me in a way his other songs do not,” she tells B-Sides & Badlands. Tom struck some good luck in purposely seeking out such an obscure Williams song, allowing herself to be pulled in the right direction by fate. “Since I’m in a place in my own life where mortality is ever-present with aging parents, a child and husband to think about before myself and facing the loss of a parent, the words of the song run through my head often in my own daily routine,” she says.

Her own mortality crosses her mind quite frequently, too. “I wonder if, when the angel of death comes down after me, I will be able to truthfully say that I have been true to my faith, to God, to my husband, to my daughter, to my family, to my friends and those that have supported me. It’s a very important question which is why I am able to sing the song with passion and honesty.”

Technically speaking, her approach to the song is one of great precision and care. “I had the idea of singing the verses in a lower register and belting the chorus to emphasize the importance of the message. It’s my favorite song on the record and my favorite song to sing live because if the audience listens to the words, they say quite a bit,” she says. From the well-placed harmonies, almost manifestations of ghosts chained to earth by decayed mortal coils, to Hall’s adept skill, sweeping in between Tom’s vocal cracks and breaking off the syllables, “Angel of Death” is a haunting, visceral and altogether overwhelming experience. “Andy blows my mind with his talent (and he’s a very kind and generous human being). His addition of dobro, along with the harmonies, made the song absolutely perfect. His playing gave the song an eerie feeling that made it what we hoped it would be when we started recording it.”

When tasked to cover three of Williams’ biggest hits, including “Hey Good Lookin'” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” she excels rather brilliantly. She not only exudes her own magnificence but she eloquently steps into the long-adored legend’s boots, dusting them off and doing a bit of walkin’ of her very own. Ain’t It Something, Hank Williams (produced by John Macy) is wholly satisfying, tied in colorful little bows by her own insightful, ripened penmanship. She’s joined by a band of accomplished players, too, including Lloyd Green (Johnny Cash, Alan Jackson, Lynn Anderson), Chris Leuzinger (Randy Travis, Garth Brooks, Emmylou Harris), Pig Robbins (Dolly Part, George Jones), Steve Hinson (Josh Turner, Will Hoge), John Gardner (Gretchen Peters, Jason Eady) and Eugene Moles (Waylon Jennings). What results is one of the year’s most stunning pieces.

Of course, it wasn’t without its turmoil. In fact, the album almost never came to fruition at all. It started with the 2006 release of her first album, High Maintenance. Coming off a divorce around the same time, she soon rediscovered herself, able to tumble like the weeds across the desert. “I spent that summer on a radio tour across Texas, enjoying my new found freedom and opportunity to chase my dreams unhinged from the weight holding them back when I was married,” she says, walking us through the past decade of her life. Two years later, she made the plunge into Nashville, towing her “life’s baggage,” as she calls it, begrudgingly behind her. “Broken and broke, I helped my new boyfriend get through stage four cancer. It was life changing for me to go through that experience with him. It’s quite possibly the biggest gift I was given in life.”

They later parted (“on good terms,” Tom stresses), and she continued the grind of Music City, slowing becoming “emotionally and financially devastated,” she remembers. “I had $35,000 in credit card debt, was waiting tables at two different restaurants and had not one ounce of creativity left in my body. It was one of the roughing times in my life.”

Fast forward to 2009-2010, she met her now-husband Gayland and moved back to Texas. Stories began falling out of her fingertips. The Second Act EP surfaced in 2012, a startlingly polished and more aloof set of Music Row-carved tunes. “I strayed from my roots. I ran out of money while recording and half-assed the second part of the project. What I ended up with was something I was not proud of. It was a bit disingenuous in that I was trying to fit in with a more Nashville sound instead of being true to my roots of traditional country music,” she says. A week after the EP was finished, Tom found out she was pregnant with her daughter Elyse. “I was not ready for the pregnancy, and I was not ready to let go of my dream but God had other plans for my life.”

After a New York City excursion to mark a one-year wedding anniversary and a “Babymoon,” during which she went into pre-term labor and was forced to spend nearly three months bed-ridden in a downtown hospital, she gave birth to Elyse in early 2013. “Though our sweet baby girl was fine, I was a complete mess. I had horrible postpartum and acute anxiety and spent most of the next year in a state of panic. It was awful! Music was the furthest thing from my mind until we moved to Denver,” she says. A one-off singing opportunity, taking on the National Anthem at a military event in Chicago, that put the fire under Tom to make music again.

“I knew I had to figure out a way to get back in the game,” she says. Five months later, she linked up with John Macy, and the rest is history, really. “John and I began playing as an acoustic trio with our guitar player, Kerry Conner. He (and I) knew I needed to work on a new record but he really wanted to cut the new album [2017’s self-titled EP] in Nashville. I was still devastated from my time in Nashville and had no desire to go back there to work on a new record where every insecurity I still housed would come to the forefront of my mind, body and soul. We talked about it for several weeks before I agreed and took a leap of faith. Thank God I trusted John because that decision has been the best of my life professionally. I will forever be indebted to John for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself.”

On paper, writing and recording a Hank Williams tribute album is a tall order. Not just anybody has the instincts to pull it off, but Leslie Tom soars through all 10 tracks. Her skill is evident, the emotion hanging thick in the air, even when she smirks and winks with “Are You Ready for Some Hanky Panky,” a duet with Dean Miller. She’s shrewd with her choices and often allows the string-laden arrangements to do the tugging, her vocal falling into the back pocket when necessary. The somber intonation of “Audrey’s Song (Still Love You),” which witnesses Tom baring every swollen inch of her heart, is cutting enough on its own, but the song’s backstory is even grimmer.

Below Tom discusses “Audrey’s Song,” overcoming death and her next chapter.

Do you find when working with folks like Lloyd Green that their spirit and approach rubs off on you?

The first time I met Lloyd I was literally shaking. To be in a room, playing with a musician that created the sound for over 115 number one country songs is enough to make me physically ill. A myriad of thoughts ran through my mind…”Will he like the songs we’ve written?” “Will he think my voice sucks?” “Will he be arrogant ?” Luckily, he was just as I had hoped: kind, generous encouraging, and as down-to-earth as walking outside and having a conversation with my neighbor. While recording with the likes of Lloyd Green, etc., I have no ego. We play the guitar vocal demo of the song we’re about to cut and allow the experts the leeway to play what they feel will create the best song for the album. So far, this method has worked beautifully.

You address death and shedding this mortal coil directly and unapologetically with “Angel of Death.” What have been your experiences with death?

Unfortunately, too much. I lost my step-father, who was married to my Mom for 30 years, to overexposure to Agent Orange from Vietnam 8 years ago. It changed the course of my life and me as a person. Losing him caused me to question everything I knew in my life. I questioned God, lost my faith for a while and ultimately his death led to a division in our extended family that is still unresolved. It was awful, and I miss him every single day.

You co-wrote “Audrey’s Song (Still Love You)” with Sean Gasaway and Andy Wren, who was diagnosed with stage four cancer and soon passed away before the song was even finished. Did you continue to feel Wren’s presence when you set about recording it?

I can’t say I’ve felt Andy with me but what I do hope is we are able to carry on his memory by telling his story during our show. It was a tragic and quick death, and I think of him often.

Of course, the song is from the perspective of Audrey, Hank’s first wife. What did you do to step into her shoes?

I lived in my own. The idea for this song did not start out being about Audrey Williams but rather a song I wanted to write to my ex-husband as a way to say, “I hope you’re well. I don’t miss you one bit but I hope this life has lead to happiness for you.” After we lost Andy, I decided that Audrey and I may have lived very similar lives. I supported my ex-husband’s musical dream and band tirelessly for ten years. I loved him through the ups and downs of dynamics associated with being in a band and supporting that band financially, mentally, physically and emotionally. Audrey did the same thing for Hank. It was easy for me to step in her shoes…I walked those sons-a-bitches until there were holes in the sole which made writing a song about her pretty damn easy.

The only thing I questioned was the authenticity of the chorus. Did she still love Hank after they divorced? I don’t know…I’m still reading his biography and am only in the early years of their marriage. Maybe I’ll get the chance to meet Hank Jr. some day and ask him about his mom and dad.

Through writing and recording this song, what do you think you learned about Audrey, even from the outside looking in?

How hard it must have been to be married and support one of the most prolific artists in country music and then ultimately have the marriage end and have him marry someone else within a few months of the divorce and then die. I can’t imagine how that must have felt which is why I chose to think she wanted him to know, after his death, she still loved him.

Among the covers, “I’m So Lonesome” is an especially iconic Hank song. When you are taking on such a legendary tune, do you deconstruct the song’s lyrics and the message before rearranging it to fit your voice and your life’s experiences?

Man, this is such a great idea but I’m afraid that’s not how I approached the cover songs. We have been playing “Honky Tonkin'” and “Hey Good Lookin” for several years so those were easy to include. “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” is a classic that I felt like I could nail, vocally, so that’s why I chose that song.

Because this album serves as mostly a tribute record to a legend, do you envision this as a bridge to your next chapter?

This was supposed to be a “filler” record before we put out a big album next year. As we began working on this project, we knew we had something special. It has been better received by my fans and critics alike which puts me in a precarious situation going in to record on the fifth studio album, which we begin working on while in Nashville [next week]. How do I measure up to the success of this record? The same insecurities are ever-present, and we haven’t even started recording yet. Maybe it’s always this way, maybe success is irrelevant if I care what I put out because there is always a brighter star to reach for in the sky. I don’t know, but I pray I’m given some creativity as we hit the mid-stretch of the tour so I can write songs that mean something and speak the truth.

Ultimately, what do you take away from studying the work of Hank Williams through this album?

Hank Williams was broken, and out of the brokenness comes honesty and sadness, a true dichotomy of emotion. His songwriting was prolific; his life was short but mattered. What I’ve often wondered is if he had lived and put out more music, would he be what he is today? It’s an interesting question we thankfully never have to answer.

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