"Every now and again you run across something that just knocks your socks off. This was one of those times." — Rod Ames, No Depression

"We were captivated by their twangy sound. Doug is a pretty mean picker and Telisha, well, Telisha's voice is the second coming of Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn (yes, I know Loretta is alive)." — Jeff Katz, Ragzine

"Fabulous!!!! They put on a great show and have become staff favorites." — Maggi Landau, Director of Events and Music Programs, Madison Square Park Conservancy, New York, NY

"They kicked it! Telisha is a badass on that bass and Doug rocks that guitar. They are so nice and have terrific stage presence and Telisha's voice is unique and beautiful. The audience loved them!" — Roz Collins, Oak Grove Folk Music Festival

"There's a depth to their songs that goes beyond the surface, and substance to their stories. They have an energy that grabs hold of you and pulls you in..." — Greg Tutwiler,Americana Rhythm Music Magazine

"Doug and Telisha Williams' music is as honest and heartfelt as they are. Their integrity and commitment to their craft shines through ..." — Eamon Mcloughlin,The Greencards

"Doug & Telisha Williams have the old-time, pre-70s country, mountain & honky-tonk road house music all blended together into their own whiskey - open the jar and have a pull." — Darrell Scott

"They call their music "Fuel Injected Folk," those powerful songs that only exist in Southern isolation, where us mountainfolk can take off our shoes and ponder." Since this husband-and-wife duo from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia cut their CD, Rope Around My Heart, they have been steadily climbing the Roots Music Review Folk Chart. Their success is easy to understand, because they both have voices that cry folk, which bleed the sweet Southern cadences that are hard to find today. Doug could out-ballad Bobby Helms if he wanted to, but he's content keeping his vocals minimal, understated behind Telishia's voice, which sounds like a polished Kitty Wells, cooing heartfelt ballads with an unassuming downhome charm.” — MetroPulse

"This talented duo takes their folksy style of music and captivates the listener with it. Telisha's clear-as-a-bell, resonant voice reminds you of a cool, crisp mountain morning and when Doug chimes in with his extraordinary harmony, the result is an absolutely beautiful sound, indeed...Their songwriting is as dazzling as their singing." — Herb Barbee, Roots Music Report

Doug and Telisha offer dead right, honest songwriting delivered in a hauntingly beautiful yet gritty, neo-traditional Americana wrapper. Their roots are real, their words are true, and their energy is contagious.

Doug and Telisha hail from Martinsville, Virginia, where boarded up factories stand as monuments to how fast the world can change. When they write and sing songs about dying small towns, they know what they're talking about. The unemployment rate where they live is 20.2 %. When you hear them sing songs about a couple of hard luck kids who made some bad decisions and wound up in jail, you've got to remember that Doug & Telisha are still good friends with that family. The songs for their latest record, Ghost of the Knoxville Girl, weren't written by people who like to imagine what it's like “out there”, instead they came from stories told across kitchen tables or between friends after a couple of pitchers at the Ten Pin.

“Seems like everybody we know is living what you read about in the papers," says Doug. "The unemployment rate is 20.2%, and we're all feeling a little desperate and pushed against the wall. This record couldn't help but echo what we're seeing and hearing.”

Their hometown sits in the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains and you can hear, smell and taste that influence on their new record, Ghost of the Knoxville Girl. Like the very best singer-songwriters, this duo gives a voice to the struggles of everyday people, as well ghosts of the past. “When we opened for Charlie Louvin and heard him sing his Knoxville Girl,” says Telisha, “I wondered about her side of the story. All I had to do was ask and she told us.”

Like the ghost in the title track, the characters in this collection of songs are resilient spirits who face their troubles straight on, never looking away. Telisha's voice rises from way down deep and delivers the honest truth with a frank clearness that never wavers. You never for one minute doubt that the emotion is real. Having played and written together since they were teenagers, Doug's guitar and harmonies follow suit giving soul to heart. And, when Doug takes the mic for his story songs, you can imagine Flannery O'Connor nodding in praise.

“We hope in some small way our songs not only document these times, but honor the people who are just doing the best they can to get by these days.” Doug says. Making this album even more poignant is the fact that it was recorded in the duo's home town of Martinsville, Virginia. “It was important to us to try and keep it local this time. Try and keep as much of it as possible close to home.” says Doug.

That “keep it local” ideal has paid off for the duo. Since it's release, Ghost of the Knoxville Girl has received wide critical acclaim and spent 15 weeks in the Americana Music Association Top 40 Radio Chart. The record has been mentioned as a favorite by some of the genre's most influential DJ's across the contry. Somewhat ironically, that success has kept Doug & Telisha on the road almost constantly. They've traveled from Florida to Oregon and Michigan to Texas, western Canada to New York City and everywhere in between. They've played with some of their most beloved heroes - Lucinda Williams, Darrell Scott, Charlie Louvin, and Joe Ely – and been on stage at Anderson Fair, The Birchmere, The Carolina Theater, Godrey Daniels, Madison Square Park and Floydfest.

Wherever Doug and Telisha go they always make quick friends with their audience, pulling them right into their lives. “That's what it's all about for us”, says Doug, “being out there, playing on the road, meeting people. Everything else is just... everything else.”

No matter how far they roam, Doug and Telisha always find their way back home. A place that holds tight to the intricacies and contradictions of life in the south today. A place where old time religion, superstition, rundown bars, gravel parking lots and boarded up factories tell stories that wind up being songs. A place where in just one set, Doug & Telisha can still send audience members to their feet in applause, to their knees in prayer, and back to the bar to buy another beer.

Ghost of the Knoxville Girl

Doug & Telisha Williams
released 2009

Rope Around My Heart

Doug & Telisha Williams
released 2006