Further From the Country (Six Shooter, 2025)

Two-time JUNO-award winning singer-songwriter William Prince, a member of Peguis First Nation on Canada's prairie, is a bold, confident voice, one who allows his art to speak for itself. Praise for Prince has been universal and well-deserved.

Prince has created memorable songs on four previous albums in the last decade and with a focus on bringing his sound to audiences beyond an insular folk-roots world, he has graced some of the most revered stages across North America and Europe including the Grand Ol' Opry, Massey Hall and Newport Folk Festival.

There is no bravado associated with Prince's flavor of modern country music. Produced by Liam Duncan (aka Boy Golden), himself a JUNO-nominee last year and a fellow Winnipeg-based artist, "Further From the Country" possesses a vibrant musical tapestry replete in pedal steel (Caleb Melo) and fiddle (Trent Freeman and Ben Plotnick). Austin Parachoniak's prominent electric guitar contributions spark most songs including "On Rolls the Wheel."

The lead single "Damn" provides an excellent window into the album. "I wonder who you'd become if no one hurt you where you're from?" Prince asks in the song's opening. A journey of self-acceptance, "Damn" concludes, "But it's getting clearer, things won't change until I finally get the will to do something else with myself."

The title track is an epic of missed promise and emotion, "Hear the sound as it rings and it pulls me away, Knock 'em dead when you finally get to the city — only stories in this town, there's no fortune to be found." Prince sings of "reservation blues" within the tragic vignettes of "All The Same," a song that owes to Springsteen's working-class redemption-seeking romances where one wakes daily to more of the same.

"Thousand Miles of Chain" and "Flowers on the Dash" are terrific country songs rooted in a tradition stretching from Marty Robbins and Fred Eaglesmith to Cody Jinks and Colter Wall. "The Charmer" marks the passage of time and the complications present within family dynamics. It is apparent that Prince doesn't wish to reveal everything to his audience; while he writes quite specifically in select places, like the best songwriters, he allows space for individual interpretation and connection.

By refreshing his approach to music and songwriting, William Prince continues to build his following. With visionary recordings such as "Further From the Country," Prince ensures that he is to be viewed as a headliner presenting meaningful music while maintaining popular appeal.