About Us

 Something from Nothing, in part, grew out of Williams’ quest to find a particular banjo and in part because the pandemic gave him time to start thinking about writing a new album. One day he watched a video of Gregory Alan Isakov and saw Steve Varney (Kid Reverie) playing an Open Back Banjo. “That banjo sounded so amazing on one condenser mic, and I wanted to find one like it,” says Williams. After a long search, he landed on Steve Varney’s website. Williams noticed that Varney offered lessons, so he decided to sign up for one or two. “I was so taken with his work and his instrument that I’d pay to talk to him,” Williams chuckles. The two hit it off immediately, and it wasn’t long before they started writing a song together. Very soon, Varney and Williams were meeting once a week over Zoom for writing sessions and recording efforts. “This was the most serendipitous musical moment in my life,” says Williams. Kid Reverie recalls, “Chris always came to our lessons with a solid idea. I routinely found myself saying something like, ‘This is great, now let’s make it a song.’” Williams confirms about their collaboration that “This stretched me in ways that songwriting had not done before, and it was quite eye-opening. I needed to listen more than I talked.” 
     The two eventually co-wrote the 12 songs on Something from Nothing, co-produced the album, and Varney mastered it. They played all the instruments on the album—though Michael McKee joins them on drums on five songs and Ayda Varney plays cat toy sounds on one song. “This process was very cathartic. It took a trying time for both of us and allowed us to open ourselves to a writing partnership that neither of us expected. I am grateful for this amazing musical experience and hope everyone enjoys these songs as much as we loved creating them!” Kid Reverie affirms that he’s “rarely had such deep collaboration with another songwriter. For so long it felt like we were just doing lessons. I think it took both of us quite a while to realize we were co-writing songs and making an album.” 

     Chris Williams is a folk singer\songwriter from Wilmington, NC with 2 full-length albums to his credit—The Farewell Tour  2018 and To Be Determined 2020. Williams is a multi-instrumentalist and recorded, engineered and mastered all of the songs on both albums.

     Kid Reverie is out of Boulder, CO, featuring the voice and writing of Steve Varney, guitarist/banjoist for Gregory Alan Isakov and former leader of the band Glowing House. In September 2018, Varney officially introduced Kid Reverie with a rock record both tender and furious. As an artist with several aesthetic interests, Kid Reverie will ebb and flow throughout time, with a perpetual emphasis on solid songwriting and honesty.