‘Highways’ tour leads Zach Williams to Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids

With his latest release, “A Hundred Highways,” Zach Williams feels he has made the kind of album he’s always wanted to have in his catalog.

“I wanted this record to sound as true to my roots and as true to the music that I grew up on as anything I’ve put out,” Williams said in a recent phone interview. “I went into this record not thinking about trying to write radio singles, trying to write a song that had a certain format.

“It was more how do we write this record and write what feels right for that day or just the season of life that I was in and the things that I’ve gone through, and not really try to make it have to fit a certain mold.

“I think by doing that, we touched on a little bit of every genre of music that I’ve grown up on, from country to gospel to bluegrass to rock and blues. It just feels really good to have a record from front to back that feels like it covers all of that ground. And for the first time truly, I really feel like this record feels like me, so I’m really proud of it.”

Roller coaster journey

It’s been a lengthy journey with its share of ups and downs that Williams, 45, has taken to arrive at this point in his career where he feels like he’s making his most authentic music.

Growing up in Jonesboro, Ark., as the son of a father who was a worship leader and a mother who sang on praise teams, church was a big part of Williams’ life. Perhaps Williams was destined to find his way into the Christian music scene, where he is one of the genre’s fastest rising stars. But he had a very different previous life in music.

He began his career in earnest in 2007 when he formed the Southern-tinged rock band, Zach Williams & the Reformation, which released two independent albums — “Electric Revival” in 2009 and “A Southern Offering” in 2011 — and toured worldwide.

Despite the Christian connotations of those album titles, Zach Williams & the Reformation was a secular band, and Williams indulged in a rock ’n’ roll lifestyle in those years. His first marriage had ended and eventually, he reached a point where his behavior threatened to cost him his second marriage, which included two stepchildren.

“I was always a class clown growing up and was always the center of attention. That’s what it was,” said Williams, who got into drinking and drugs. “But it turned into an escape for me from things I had failed at, things in my life that didn’t work out. It was really easy to turn to drugs or a bottle when things weren’t going right and just forget about those things and not have any responsibility.

“I was never the guy that had woke up and started drinking or started using drugs. It was always a social thing. My problem was, I always took it too far and I didn’t know when to shut it down and when to turn it off.”

He reached a low point on tour in Spain during an eight-hour bus ride to his band’s next show.

“Me and my wife had this big argument. I didn’t even make any sense on the phone and she was pretty much saying, ‘Look, I’m done. I can’t do this anymore,’ ” Williams said. “I woke up that next morning as guilty as you could feel about life and just knowing man, how did I get to this place? How did I get myself here? And (I was) not happy with who I was, and I was in that vehicle and I was just praying that God would just prove himself to me, that he was real and He could just show me somehow.”

Change of heart

A couple of hours later as the bus rolled along, the driver was scanning radio stations and stopped on the song “Redeemed” by the Christian rock act Big Daddy Weave. Something in the song’s tale of redemption resonated with Williams and he realized he could still be saved.

“I realized that God didn’t see me the way I saw myself,” he said. “When I called my wife and said I was done, she was in shock, too. I think she thought this won’t change or nothing will change. But I told her, ‘Listen, I’ve got two more weeks (on tour) out here, and when I get done, I’m done (with the band).’ And I was.

“When I came home, I told my band basically that next day. It didn’t go over very well, but my whole thing was, ‘I don’t have an explanation for you guys. I’m in a different place than you are and I need to save myself and my family. I’ve got to get my life together and I need Jesus, basically.’ ”

Williams quit music entirely and went to work in construction at his father’s company. He got sober and started going to church, where in fairly short order, he became a part-time worship leader.

As time went on, Williams started to get musical ideas and began writing songs, realizing he had a story to tell about finding his way back to God.

Williams and his guitarist from the Redemption, Robby Rigsbee, formed a group to play Christian music. On Christmas Eve 2014, Williams filled in as worship leader at his church, and Jonathan Smith, a music producer and songwriter who also attended that church, was there and heard Williams sing. Smith was impressed, and before long he invited Williams to come to Nashville and join him in a songwriting session with Mia Fieldes.

One song they wrote was “Chain Breaker,” and it helped Williams get a deal with the Provident Label Group/Essential Records. “Chain Breaker” became the title song of Williams’ 2016 debut solo album and he watched the song go No. 1 on various Christian singles charts. Three more hit singles followed, including a second chart topper, “Old Church Choir.”

Williams was off and running with his second music career, and his 2019 follow-up album, “Rescue Story,” which dealt in part with his journey in quitting alcohol and drugs, gave him another No. 1 single with “There Was Jesus,” which featured a guest vocal by Dolly Parton.

Now comes “A Hundred Highways,” which builds on Williams’ story of finding Christ and embracing sobriety.

“I think ‘A Hundred Highways,’ to me, is more kind of reflecting on my past, my journey, what God’s done in my life,” Williams said. “I think there’s a lot of gratitude in this record, and I hope it comes out that way.”

On tour

To help share his songs and messages on the concert stage, Williams has been touring with a large band that includes a three-piece horn section and a pair of backing vocalists. They will be coming to the Paramount Theatre in downtown Cedar Rapids on March 28, 2024.

“It’s been my dream for about the last six years is to be able to put a band like this together,” Williams said. “I’ve always been a huge Bob Seger fan, and the Allman Brothers — bands like that. I’ve always loved going and just watching great musicians play their instruments. So I feel like I’ve been able to find some of the best in the business.

“I have a great band that travels with me, just a good group of guys and it’s really fun every night.”