“I Wish They Would Have Played All Night Long!” Williams Honor LIVE! in Seaside Heights, NJ
By: Spotlight Central
Tags: New Jersey, Concerts, Concert Review, Country Music, Music

“I Wish They Would Have Played All Night Long!” Williams Honor LIVE! in Seaside Heights, NJ Spotlight Central Follow Sep 2 · 9 min read

By Spotlight Central. Photos by Love Imagery

The ocean in Seaside Heights, NJ, this misty Friday, August 20, 2021 evening is a vibrant blue. Although the sun is beginning to set in the west, it still illuminates the white, sandy beach where country music fans are streaming in for a live concert by the New Jersey-based country duo, Williams Honor.

Williams Honor is comprised of vocalist Reagan Richards and singer/guitarist/composer Gordon Brown. As a youngster, Richards performed on the Steve Allen Radio Show, and went on to sing with such established musicians as Les Paul, Joan Jett, and Lisa Loeb. Brown toured and recorded with a number of bands including Mr. Reality, Samhill, and Highway 9. After spending time in Nashville writing, recording, and working with other artists, in 2014 the pair met at a benefit for Hurricane Sandy victims and Williams Honor was born.

The duo’s eponymous first album was released in 2015. In 2018, they had their first MusicRow Country Breakout hit with “No Umbrella,” the same year they were chosen by another Jersey band, Bon Jovi, to open the group’s sold-out performance at New York’s Madison Square Garden. In 2020, Williams Honor dropped their newest single, “Step,” and their latest album is scheduled to be released this Fall.

As music lovers wait for tonight’s concert to begin, we step backstage to chat with WH’s Gordon Brown who says, “Tonight, we’ll be doing a lot of songs from our first record, in addition to some from our upcoming album, Ex.” Revealing, “It’s a ‘break-up album,” Brown explains, “but it’s not coming from a place of weakness or sadness. Rather, it’s coming from a position of empowerment where the idea is: ‘You’re behind me, not in front of me.’”

“In addition,” continues Brown, “we’ll be doing our latest single, ‘Step,’ for all of our ‘WH Army’ fans and, interspersed among the originals, we’ll do a few cover songs by artists like Lady A, Luke Combs, and Miranda Lambert.”

When asked how he would describe Williams Honor’s unique brand of “Jersey Country,” Brown replies, “I’d describe it as almost E Street-ish. We have seven people in the band, so there’s this massive sound — with clean Telecasters and vocal harmonies — plus the stories of country music.” With regards to playing a live concert here in Seaside Heights following a year mainly filled with streaming performances on the internet, Brown contends, “Reigniting country music right here on the Jersey Shore is something that’s key for us to do.”

A misty fog rolls in as the sun sets, turning the sky pink and orange behind dark gray clouds. A series of speakers dots the seascape, extending the sound of pre-concert recorded music to the beach and beyond to the boardwalk and enticing curious passers-by to join all of the music lovers already situated in the sand.

Here, we take a moment to chat with several on the beach including a number of “WH Army” fans like Jerry from Howell who tells us, “I love Williams Honor; I’ve been a fan since the beginning.” Recalling, “I’ve followed Gordon in three different bands: Mr. Reality, Samhill, and Highway 9,” Jerry notes, “and we just saw Gordon and Reagan perform together last week on the Seaside Heights boardwalk as a part of Big Joe Henry’s Variety Show.”

Adds Lynn from Forked River, “I love both Gordon and Reagan! They’re great, individually and together. We’ve seen them a number of times, but you can’t beat seeing them right here on the beach!”