William Prince: Warms Up A Cold Edmonton Crowd

William Prince is on the tail end of a cross Canada tour and stopped in Edmonton on November 30 and played before a standing room only crowd at the McDougall United Church.

A winter storm was wrapping itself around Edmonton. The wind was swirling amongst the downtown high rises causing little piles of snow to gather around sidewalks and roads, but that did not deter this hardy Albertan crowd. The queue snaked around the front of the building and most of the way down the long city block as people were waiting to enter the welcoming sanctuary for tonight’s performance. One step into this magnificent venue and you know right away you are in for a treat both aesthetically and acoustically. The 23-metre-tall ceiling and glorious pipe organ served as the perfect back drop for one of Canada’s finest voices and storyteller, William Prince.

He took the stage we would expect, no fanfare, just a simple walk on a quick hello and broke into “That’s All I’ll Ever Become” to resounding applause on the opening chords. His voice echoed off the hallowed walls and resonated down from the ceiling and touched each and everyone in attendance. Prince didn’t waste time getting on with the stories he’s known for. “You can tell how friendly a place is by the number of times you get interrupted at dinner. Well, I was interrupted several times tonight. You are great Edmonton.” He then moved into “Wasted” and “Heaven and Hell.” He said “Hello Treaty Seven Territory,” to which he was corrected that Edmonton is seated in Treaty Six Territory, “Still?” he added. He thought by the time he drove across from Saskatoon, where he played the night before, he’d cross into new territory.

After the title track from his debut album, “Earthly Days” he said, “This next song is about a good friend of mine who was down on his luck, broke and facing eviction. He wasn’t all that handy so I was quite surprised to hear he was taking a job with a travelling fair. He travelled with them for four months, setting up and tearing down. When he came home, he had a pocket full of money, reconnected his cell phone, paid his rent and bought cigarettes and weed. That’s the dream really.” It puts a new perspective to the song “The Carny.” Take a deep dive into the lyrics and you’ll paint a picture of a different life then we are used to. At this point someone shouted out “Breathless,” also from his debut album, to which he replied, “When I feel like it.”

“I was approached by Pegasus First Nation to write a song for their graduating class of 2016. I said, ‘are you familiar with my music?’ I decided to focus on the seven sacred teaching of aboriginal law such as love, wisdom, truth, honour and a couple more that I can’t recall right now, but they’re in the song. It’s no small feat to graduate on a reserve, so I wanted to give them something special to guide their life with. These seven sacred teachings are something many of us should practice. If we did the world would be a much better place.” It’s clear that William Prince puts as much passion into his lyrics as he does his vocals. “7” was an amazing song.

For those who have seen William Prince over the years he’s usually alone, or with a small band. This night he featured a full band that added a great punctuation mark to his songs. Also accompanying Prince was Alberta’s own Alicia Graves sing harmonies and back up vocals beside him.

In 2020 he also released “Gospel First Nation” as an homage to his father’s preachings and his father’s music. He said, “My dad was as much in service of Jesus as he was Johnny Cash and Charley Pride. There’s something about a church on a cold winter’s night that’s got me preaching.” We were treated to another wonderful song with the title track, “Gospel First Nation.”

He wrapped up with “The Gun” featuring amazing harmonies and finally “The Spark” which had people singing along. They offered Prince a standing ovation at the end of the main part of his set. He returned with more country gospel and we were treated to a taste of his forthcoming album, soon to be released, “When You Miss Someone” and finally to the relief of the shout out earlier, “Breathless.”

It’s easy to see William Prince has had some struggles in his life, as we all have, and he is able to use music as therapy. Thanks for sharing with us. It was an amazing night. His star is truly on the rise.

Le Ren, Lauren Spear, opened the show with a quirky set featuring sweet folk songs that are from the heart. She sat down and said “I’m not William Prince,” and endeared us with a great 30 minute musical journey. Sadly, her three day old car was broken into the night before in Saskatoon and she had some clothes stolen, “They didn’t take my albums tho. I was thinking that would be a good way to spread my music around. Huge props to ” She also said, “Hello Edmonton. You’re cold. I didn’t pack the right boots for this trip. I only have cowboy boots with me. Oh well.” Before she went into “Dyan” she said “This one is a little more upbeat in case you didn’t notice, I’m kind of laid back.” Her voice was also a great fit for the setting. Her star is also rising.

All in all, it was a great night and both artists warmed up the hearts and bodies of the sold-out McDougall United Church.