Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 14, 1993 TAG: 9305140101
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Twenty years of marriage. Twenty years of performing together.
Must be time then for an update.
The only trouble is, there's not that much to update. After 20 years, they're still married, and they're still singing together. The Williamses will play Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke on Saturday.
And they still have that same devoted following of fans and critics who have supported their brand of country-folk music for two decades now. The pair just has never had a real commercial breakthrough.
Don't read complacency here, though.
Robin and Linda are still at it full throttle.
This summer, they will be opening concert dates for country singer Mary-Chapin Carpenter. In August, they will release their 11th album, titled appropriately, "On & On."
There are plans to team once again with longtime friend and collaborator Garrison Keillor for another Hopeful Gospel Quartet tour and album. Robin and Linda also are at work writing their third original stage musical.
But going back 20 years, Robin and Linda met while separately singing in nightclubs around Myrtle Beach. They married in 1973 and began traveling the folk and bluegrass festival circuit, while maintaining a home in Augusta County where they still live.
For a time, they worked with Peter Ostroushko, who introduced them to Garrison Keillor at the same time he was starting his now-famous "Prairie Home Companion" radio show in St. Paul, Minn.
Robin and Linda became regulars, and in time -- as the program became widely syndicated and gained in popularity -- they became well-known nationally themselves.
Over the years, they have appeared on "The Grand Ole Opry," "Mountain Stage," "Entertainment Tonight," "Austin City Limits" and "Nashville Now." Their albums almost always receive critical praise -- even if they have not caught the attention of the major labels. The couple records on Sugar Hill Records.
Some of their material has been covered by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Mary-Chapin Carpenter, Tom T. Hall and Kathy Mattea, among others. On stage, Robin sings tenor and plays guitar. Linda is an alto and mostly plays banjo.
Saturday, they will be joined by Kevin Maul on dobro and by bassist Jim Watson, a founder of The Red Clay Ramblers who has played for the couple the last five years now. Both also add vocal harmonies.
While performing remains their mainstay, Robin and Linda also dabble in writing music for the stage. In 1985, they were tapped by the director of the Lime Kiln Theatre in Lexington to score a musical about Stonewall Jackson.
The duo has since written songs for another play at Lime Kiln, "Virgil Powers: The Back Life," and they are currently working on a new musical with the Circle Repertoire Company in New York. Titled "Streets of Gold," it will begin regional touring sometime next year.
With Keillor, the couple will hit the road later this year with concert dates in Wisconsin, Daytona Beach, Boston, England, Scotland and Denmark. Last year's tour with Keillor and the Hopeful Gospel Quartet ended with a taping of "Austin City Limits" that aired in March and will air again in December.
Opening some shows for Mary-Chapin Carpenter should help give them added exposure, as well. No doubt "On & On" will be another winner, too. Who knows?
Maybe after 20 years, their time has finally come.
Robin and Linda Williams in concert Saturday, 8 p.m., Mill Mountain Theatre main stage, Center in the Square, downtown Roanoke. $12.50 advance, $13.50 door. 342-5740.
Keywords:
PROFILE
by CNB