Trivago's Tim Williams talks about his country album, Magnolia City.
Cowboys & Indians: You’re a Houston native, but you’ve been most successful as an actor in Germany. And that’s how you landed the gig as commercial spokesman for Trivago, a Germany-based company. Do you remember the day you realized what an impact you were making?
Tim Williams: Oh, man, that was a crazy morning when I realized that. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t following up on social media. I was sleeping that morning, and the PR guy from Trivago called me up. He was like, “Tim, how are you?” And I said, “Well, I’m doing great. I’m just waking up, about to have a coffee.” He said, “Well, I have to tell you: You’ve gone viral. You made Trivago viral. You’re viral, and now they’re all talking about Trivago.” Like I said — crazy. I mean, Trivago was zero-known in the United States when that first commercial came out, and now look where they are.
C&I: But you’ve continued to act in German film and TV productions. And now you’ve recorded Magnolia City, a real-deal country music album. Was this something always on your bucket list?
Tim: Well, it all started when I did this German show where I played a rock ’n’ roll guy from America who does tours over in Germany and Europe. When I go back to Germany, I find out that I have a 17-year-old daughter who’s been listening to my music for a year. I couldn’t sing my own music, because it had already been recorded by some other guy. So I was basically lip-synching on the TV show, acting it out. That was kind of embarrassing, but I must have done it well, because everybody believed it was me.
So I talked to [producer Norbert Hamm], who knew the impact that show had for me, and he said, “You’ve got a lot of fans now. Let’s make our own album, show what your voice is.” So we made a little bluesy, kind of rocky EP, Temporary Man, and put that out there. It didn’t sell much — maybe enough to buy a couple steaks — but it was a start. So when Norbert approached me to do another album, I said, “Yeah, let’s make a country album.”
C&I: You actually recorded Magnolia City in Nashville, right?
Tim: Like you said, maybe it was something on my bucket list that I really wanted to do. But country music has been something in my life for a long time now. And I figured it was time to get back now to the Willies and the Waylons and the Merles and the Johnny Cashes. To get me back to them — to that style that I grew up listening to. The new country music is a bit poppy. And this faster kind of country pop, the put-it-in-your-face kind of stuff — well, I just like more of the storytelling part of it. At this point in my life, I had some stories to tell. It’s important to get those stories out as much as you possibly can.
C&I: There seem to be several autobiographical elements in the songs you wrote or co-wrote for Magnolia City. The title cut comes from an old nickname for Houston, and it’s a catchy, twangy ode to your hometown. And as for “Summer in Berlin,” well, we have to ask: Is that a recollection of your first big romance over there?
Tim: [Laughs.] She broke my heart, man. ... We were together for five years. Oh, it’s hard to talk about.
C&I: Is it easier to sing about?
Tim: Yes. “Summer in Berlin” is about her, about meeting her, our time together, what we did. And then there’s another song on the album called “You Don’t Even Know Me,” and that’s also about her. And then there’s another song on the album called “My End,” and that song’s about her. So if anybody can relate to heartbreak, or telling yourself, “I’m gonna come back from this,” these songs are for you.
C&I: On a more upbeat note, there’s “If I’d Known You Then,” which is a tribute to your father.
Tim: That’s right. My father, he’s a professional golfer. And his father, Robbie Williams, was a golf pro at Memorial Park [Golf Course] in Houston for many years. My dad, Jack, grew up on that golf course. He’s getting up there a bit, and he told me the other day: “When my time comes, I want you to scatter some of me right there on the front,” where they made all their bets. “And then I want you to take me out there about 260 yards on that first tee, and scatter me over there too.” [Laughs.] That’s where he wants to be.
BUT SERIOUSLY, FOLKS: Tim Williams has been a supporting player in several films produced in Germany. He’s particularly proud of his brief but memorable role in Giulio Ricciarelli’s Labyrinth of Lies (2014) as a U.S. Army officer in post-WWII Germany who gives an idealistic prosecutor access to files on Nazi war criminals.
Illustration: Jonathan Fehr
From the January 2019 issue.