01940 Winter 2018_V3
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He writes<br />
the songs<br />
that make<br />
the whole<br />
world sing<br />
BY BILL BROTHERTON<br />
"Alexa, play 'Never Enough' by Loren<br />
Allred," requests John Michael Williams.<br />
A gorgeous voice fills the magnificent<br />
Chestnut Street home of Lynnfield's<br />
modern-day renaissance man. The song is<br />
from the film "The Greatest Showman"<br />
and the young woman's vocal elicits<br />
goosebumps.<br />
"My 7-month-old grandson, Jack,<br />
and I dance to this every night,"<br />
said Williams. "This and 'The Little<br />
Mermaid.'" It's a highlight of his day.<br />
The "Never Enough" video has<br />
31 million views on YouTube. Pretty<br />
impressive, right? Not when you compare<br />
it to singer-songwriter Williams' video<br />
for "I Believe in You," a haunting song<br />
about love and faith that has nearly 46<br />
million views.<br />
When we arrive for an interview,<br />
Williams is sitting at a piano, working<br />
on a song he's writing for a Nashville<br />
country music star who shall remain<br />
nameless. Williams' voice is "a gift that<br />
comes along rarely," says his mentor<br />
James Houghton, an opera performer<br />
and dean of music at Boston University.<br />
Williams' voice is strong and<br />
expressive. His song is a heartfelt,<br />
emotion-packed ballad. But that's only<br />
one of this renaissance man's talents.<br />
He's a filmmaker whose<br />
documentaries "The Gloucester 18,"<br />
about a supposed pregnancy pact by a<br />
group of local high school girls, and<br />
"Bridgend," about a series of suicides<br />
by young adults in a small Welsh town,<br />
received glowing reviews.<br />
He's an author: A series of children's<br />
books, with such cute titles as "Rules<br />
of the Road Toad" and "Wondering<br />
William and the Sandman," have been<br />
well received by both adults and kiddies.<br />
He served as creative director of<br />
John Michael Williams could be called a modern-day renaissance man of Lynnfield. PHOTOS: SPENSER HASAK<br />
the Boston Film Festival from 2005-<br />
07. And he's worked with some pretty<br />
big stars: Natalie Cole, Brooke Shields,<br />
James Woods, Sandra Bernhardt, Joe<br />
Pantoliano, Eli Wallach, and Nancy<br />
Kerrigan. He sang on the stage at the<br />
world-renowned Carnegie Hall in<br />
NYC and was the featured performer<br />
at a $10,000-a-table tribute to film<br />
producer Jerry Weintraub, where he<br />
sat next to superstar George Clooney.<br />
He has attended the Grammys several<br />
times. He considers his voice his primary<br />
instrument.<br />
He and his wife, Karen, moved to<br />
Lynnfield in 1989. They raised daughters<br />
Jackie and Alexandra here and can often<br />
be seen at town events, but most would<br />
never realize that this modest man is a<br />
star in his own right.<br />
Williams grew up in Melrose and<br />
graduated from Malden Catholic High<br />
School in 1976 and then Northeastern<br />
University. The second-oldest of eight<br />
children, he said the home was always<br />
filled with music.<br />
"My dad was always singing around<br />
the house," he said. "My job, when I was<br />
six or seven, was to sing to (the) little<br />
ones and help them fall asleep"<br />
He said his sister is a classical<br />
violinist who has performed with Sarah<br />
Brightman, Whitney Houston, and<br />
Smokey Robinson.<br />
"I was always the kid with the voice,<br />
even at 5 years old" he said. "I would sing<br />
with the three Kelly girls next door."<br />
"I never really liked the Beatles,<br />
they were often out of tune to my ear. I<br />
was more into classical music and Jane<br />
Oliver, James Taylor, Chicago," he said,<br />
then smiled. "I'm the king of ballads.<br />
I'm a sucker for pretty lyrics that move<br />
me. Good music makes you catch your<br />
breath, makes you feel like crying. I<br />
would sing 'Danny Boy' and people<br />
would cry."<br />
What about "I Believe in You," a<br />
video that somehow went viral with no<br />
promotion or a push by a major label?<br />
The video features Williams playing the<br />
piano and singing while a film, which<br />
he directed, follows a young couple who<br />
are having a baby, an elderly couple, a<br />
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