New, Never-Before-Heard Don Williams Songs On The Way

Yes, there are new, never before heard recordings from the “Gentle Giant” Don Williams on the way. And no, this is not a false alarm, or some AI gimmick. These are genuine unearthed recordings from the Don Williams vault, giving fans a dozen new recordings from the country legend. And even better, they come from the heyday of Don’s career, originally captured between 1979 and 1984 when Williams was at the height of his powers.

To be released on May 29th, Epilogue: The Cellar Tapes is exactly what it sounds like: never-before-heard recordings discovered in the cellar of the Williams family’s rural Tennessee home on multi-track tapes. The tapes were in workable shape, with Don’s vocal tracks intact across the recordings. Some of the instrumental tracks had deteriorated over time, so they solicited Don’s long-time producer Garth Fundis to help restore the recordings.

“Don liked every one of these songs,” says Garth Fundis. “I remember recording all of them… He was very particular about the songs he recorded and the sound we created for each of them. But if a song didn’t make into an album, it wasn’t necessarily because he didn’t like it. Moreover, it was because of how songs fit together to create an album. I think he’d be thrilled to know that people could hear him sing these new songs they didn’t know existed. I’m certain Don would be proud of this album.”

To restore the tracks, Garth Fundis brought in musicians who toured with Don to help complete the project. This includes Joe Allen on bass, Kenny Malone on drums, Charles Cochran on piano and organ, along with legendary steel guitar player Lloyd Green. Guitarists Jimmy Colvard, Dave Kirby, and Billy Sanford also contributed to the record.

“These songs Dad recorded are—as music can be—a time machine,” Says Don’s son Tim Williams, who also served as an executive producer on the project. “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.”

Invariably, you will have some accuse these recordings of being AI, just like we saw with the 2025 release of Waylon Jennings archived material called Songbird. But Saving Country Music has double checked, and no, this is not an AI ruse.

In November of 2025, and entire album of fake Don Williams recordings generated by AI populated on all of Don’s streaming accounts. The album has since been taken down, but it became a good illustration of the technological dystopia we’re heading towards, both in music, and in life.

But that’s what makes real unreleased recordings from Don Williams that much more treasured. That voice, that delivery, nothing could ever match, re-create, or mimic it like the real deal. Don was a country music master craftsman, and these unreleased recordings have the opportunity to be as cherished as much as any from his catalog.

Ahead of the album, Don’s version of “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight” has been released. You can see the full track list below.

Epilogue: The Cellar Tapes is available for pre-save/pre-order, including multiple vinyl color variants.