Raised in the wide-open country of northeastern Wyoming, Williams grew up in a world of horses, rodeos, ranching and hard-earned values long before country music became his career. A former saddle bronc athlete turned recording artist, he has spent years carrying that way of life from rodeo arenas to some of the biggest stages in music - and in the process, has emerged as one of the most authentic modern voices of the West.

 

There is no costume to take off when the show is over. Williams is one of only two artists, alongside the legendary Chris LeDoux, to have both competed in the rodeo and performed on the main stage at Cheyenne Frontier Days. A Cheyenne Frontier Days Hall of Fame inductee and the only singer/songwriter endorsed by CINCH®, he has headlined during the National Finals Rodeo, performed multiple times at the Grand Ole Opry and taken his music to stages including the Ryman Auditorium and Red Rocks Amphitheatre. He has toured alongside Toby Keith, Cody Johnson, Alan Jackson, Dierks Bentley and Parker McCollum.

 

But Williams’ connection to the West runs deeper than a résumé. It shapes the music he makes, the stories he tells and the way he has built his career.

 

For years, while music chased changing sounds and trends, Williams stayed firmly planted in his own lane. “I always tell the band, don’t worry about whatever any other artist is doing,” he told People. “We have blinders on.”

 

That commitment takes center stage on Thirsty and Blue, Williams’ new album, arriving October 23. Rooted in the honky-tonks, highways, heartaches and open spaces that have long defined his music, the project represents an artist who isn’t interested in reinventing himself to meet the moment. Instead, Williams continues to make music through the perspective of someone who has actually lived the stories behind it.

 

Saving Country Music once wrote that if mainstream country could be remade into something better, “Chancey Williams…would not be a bad wish at all,” while People declared, “The time has finally come for Chancey Williams. Cowboys are cool again!”

 

For Williams, though, the cowboy life was never waiting to become cool again. It was simply home.

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REAL COWBOY. REAL WYOMING. REAL COUNTRY MUSIC.