The Posthumously Released ‘Epilogue: The Cellar Tapes’ Will Include 12 Never-Released Songs
Country artist Don Williams died at the age of 78 in 2017, with his final album, Reflections, being released three years earlier, in 2014.
Over his storied career, he had a total of 17 song go No. 1, including “You’re My Best Friend,” “Tulsa Time,” “I Believe In You,” and “That’s The Thing About Love.”
Known as the “Gentle Giant,” Williams was even inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010.
Now, nearly a decade after his passing, a new Don Williams album is on the horizon — set to be released on May 29, 2026 — and it’s comprised entirely of unreleased material.
Titled Epilogue: The Cellar Tapes, the album takes its name from where the songs were found: the basement of Williams’ home in Tennessee.
Today, March 25, the album’s lead single, “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight,” was released with a newly shot music video, which can be seen below.
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How The Album Came To Be
Recorded during Don Williams’ heyday, the 12 songs on Epilogue: The Cellar Tapes were recorded between 1979 and 1984. During that time, he notably released his 1980 album I Believe In You, which was awarded the CMA Album of the Year in 1981.
Over four decades later, these newly unveiled songs will feature Williams’ original vocal tracks, which were perfectly preserved, according to Williams’ longtime producer, Garth Fundis.
Speaking with Billboard, Fundis shared that the reel-to-reel tracks of the supporting instrumentation had started to deteriorate in storage, so some of Williams’ past bandmates — like bassist Joe Allen and drummer Kenny Malone — were enlisted to record their parts anew.
“Don liked every one of these songs,” Fundis said in a statement. “I remember recording all of them, and all of them met his approval. He was very particular about the songs he recorded and the sound we created for each of them. If a song didn’t make an album, it wasn’t because he didn’t like it. It’s because of how the songs fit together to create an album. He’d be thrilled to know that people could hear him sing new songs they didn’t know existed. Don would be proud of this album.”
Co-producing this album is Tim Williams, the son of Don Williams.
Of this album, Tim said:
“These songs Dad recorded are — as music can be — a time machine. Obviously, I grew up always hearing what he was doing. He’d bring home three to four songs at a time from the album he was working on at different stages. In working on this project, we tried above all to stay true to how Dad approached production, made much easier for me with Garth’s involvement, and then just to stay out of the way of the music.”
Pre-order Epilogue: The Cellar Tapes on vinyl from Craft Recordings at its website, here.
Watch the new music video for the album’s lead single, “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight,” which was previously recorded by The Oak Ridge Boys and Emmylou Harris, here:
Compare Don Williams’ version to the 1979 rendition, here:
Here’s Emmylou Harris’ version, as well:
