with Leif Vollebekk
Growing up with two blind parents, sound became extremely important in communicating and relating to one another. After growing up around music, he set it aside to pursue his education. William received his masters in counseling and worked as a psychotherapist for several years before turning to songwriting. He truly writes the kindof songs that most songwriters dream about; brilliant, heavy, complex and intensely personal...the songs are nothing short of breathtaking.Lions is a musical reflection of the personal renovation thats taken place since 2010s Gold In The Shadow. Best summed up by Fitzsimmons himself:The last couple years have been...full (kind of difficult to describe years in a single word). They have been wonderful, painful, long, incredibly brief, and more educational and rewarding than any Ive ever lived before. ??Ifinished touring on the previous record feeling very conflicted. The longer Im given the wonderful opportunity to write and create things, and subsequently share them with others, the more seriously and preciously I take that endeavor and responsibility. It is something I look upon with the utmost gratitude and respect. ??And yet at the same time I find myself making art in a field that is itself quite the opposite of it. I am learning that one of the most difficult things about being human is not merely facing things that you dont generally find comfortable or appropriate or even good, but actually learning how to live in the midst of it and not let it take over who you are. ??When you feel you are on a wrong-headed path, the quickest way to get where you want to go is to turn around, head back, and start again from the point you went askew. ??And so I did.I returned simply to the things, which have always brought me some measure of understanding, peace, and movement. I began to write and play music without motive or goal or end result in mind. The way that I wrote when I first began.There was no cartoon light bulb over my head or kitchen timer dinging to let me know I had gotten somewhere. With the stuff that matters there rarely is I suppose. But after months and months and months (and more bottles of beerand bowls of tobacco than Id care to disclose), I felt like a necessary distance had been traversed. ??Wanting to continue in this very spirit, I chose to take yet another leap. I made a list of the producers who were making the music and records that most meant something to me. With no expectation I got in touch with the person at the top of the list. And, in a few months, I was on a plane to Seattle to begin working with Chris Walla to turn these songs in a notebook into the collection I wanted them to become.Lions is something Im terribly proud of and utterly connected to. Its a very personal piece to me (arent they all) and something that I want you to connect with deeply. And I think you will. I honestly dont want to say too much about the music, because the truth is if music is of any worth, it should be able to speak for itself.