Music=Life

To Jen Williams, music is more that just entertainment; it's like oxygen: necessary for her existence. She lives for all things music, from playing on stage to putting on shows with her production company. Williams always is on the go, always working and always trying put together a good show for Amarillo. Every hour of every day, Williams is in communication with bands and booking agents in hopes of coming up with a good show for Amarillo. Her goal is to give Amarillo something new. But she doesn't just produce shows; she also is a talented singer. "I have two passions in life: one is music, and the other is people," she said. "I just really want to combine those two and make something great." Williams is in the beginning stages of getting her music career off the ground in a major way. "I am dying to get a band together," she said. But she said she is particular about who she would have in her band. "What I really want my music to do is to speak to people's hearts," she said. "I want people to leave my shows feeling different from when they came in." Before the end of the semester, Williams plans to record and release a five-song EP. "There are big things to come," she said. "I have a lot of plans." Between playing her own original songs and putting shows together in Amarillo with her production company, Escape Productions, Williams has met many people with ties to the music industry. "With all the music connections I have, it shouldn't be too hard to get a label," she said. Escape Productions has two main objectives. "One is obviously to create a little more culture in Amarillo," Williams said. "More music, more art; I just want to create an atmosphere of art. The other, I want to create a cool, but safe, place for kids to hang out - a place where kids can be accepted and loved for being themselves. "Amarillo is great place to raise children. I want to show people that there is more to Amarillo." Going to shows and listening to music was Williams' outlet when she was in high school, and she wants to show young people the importance of music in their lives. "Going to shows spoke to me," she said. "I want to show kids that it is still cool to go to shows." Williams spends much time promoting each event she coordinates. She does everything from creating and passing out fliers to making Facebook events of all of her shows. "She spends forever on the computer getting stuff done promoting and booking shows on Facebook and MySpace," said her friend, Britney Green. "Sometimes I just wish her computer would die. "I don't think people give her enough of the credit that is due, Amarillo is a real hard place to get music up and going. I respect her for what she is doing." Williams even has a plan to get high school students involved and excited about music the way she was at their age. "I want to go to the Amarillo school district and do a fundraiser, to do a battle of the bands," she said. All bands in each school will compete until the winner is chosen; then that band will get to open for one of the big-name bands that Williams has booked into Amarillo. "She does a lot for Amarillo," said Jonathan Hart, a local musician and producer. Hart and Williams recently collaborated on an Indie Electronica cover of the Damien Rice song, "9 Crimes." "First time working together on a song," Hart said. "She's got a really powerful voice." Williams' cause is one that many musicians in and around Amarillo feel strongly about. That is bringing music to the forefront of Amarillo culture and creating a scene for music to exist. "Get out and go see some of the shows she's doing," Hart said. "People don't realize how hard she works on these shows, how much of her money goes into these shows, just trying to get new music to Amarillo." Williams is destined for musical greatness in one form or another. Her relentless pursuit of new and different music, be it finding it or making it, puts her a step above her competition.

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