A short trip out of Jefferson City down what's now labeled "Leona Williams Highway," one of the stars of classic country music still lives in her hometown of Vienna, Missouri - although, thanks to her continued touring, she's rarely home for more than a few days at a time.
Leona Williams will return to the stage in Mid-Missouri with a concert Sept. 11 at The Millbottom Event Center in Jefferson City. And she promises to deliver what she deems real, classic country music when she performs with her son, Ron Williams, and Irish country musician Tony Kerr.
Some of Williams' biggest country hits include "Yes Ma'am, He Found Me in a Honky Tonk," released in 1970, and "The Bull and the Beaver," a duet with then-husband Merle Haggard released in 1978. She has written several songs made famous by other country musicians, including Haggard's No. 1 hits "Someday When Things Are Good" and "You Take Me for Granted."
The stretch of U.S. 63, which runs through Vienna, was named in her honor in 2013. While Williams, now 72, still tours internationally, her namesake highway keeps her coming right back where she started. She and her late husband, Dave Kirby, left Nashville to return to Vienna in 1988, and she travels from there to perform regularly and to visit her children and grandchildren who live in different states.
Her professional music career began at age 15 in Jefferson City on a weekly KWOS radio show at the behest of station owner Johnny Music.
"He played for dances around in the country, you know. He played at Brinktown at a dance one night, so my brother Warren was playing fiddle and he asked Johnny, he said, "You care if I get my sister up here to sing?' I was only 15," Williams said. "Johnny let me sing some, and he said he really liked my singing. He said, "I'll tell you what, if you get you some sponsors around here we'll get you your own radio show.' It was his idea. So we called it "Leona Sings.'"
The experience gave her a comical early taste of the "lying and cheating" country music is famous for.
"This is the truth: Whenever I was 15 years old, I thought you had to be 16 to be on the radio. I said, "This is my first big lie,'" Williams laughed. "I told him I was 16 years old."
By the time she was in her early 20s, she was performing with Loretta Lynn's band playing upright bass.
"All I could think about was Nashville," she said. She signed her first solo contract at age 25.
Now, Williams continues rounding the country on tour with her son, Ron Williams, and together performing regular European tours as well. This year, the Leinster Entertainment Awards honored her as International Singer-Songwriter of the Year, also honoring Ron as Male Vocalist of the Year. Their frequent co-headliner, Irish country musician Tony Kerr, will take the stage with them at their Jefferson City concert.
"One of the reasons we started putting this together is Tony Kerr," Williams said. "We just want to introduce him to the Missouri folks. He sings real country music, classic country music, Irish country. He has a real clear, great voice for country music; and everybody just loves him."
The trio will give several Mid-Missouri concerts in the coming months. Following their Sept. 11 appearance in Jefferson City, they will perform Sept. 12 at Ozark Hills Theater in Lebanon, Nov. 8 with the Bluegrass Martins at the Eldon Community Center in Eldon, and Nov. 21 at Music in the Barn in Dixon.
Williams said fans can expect to hear her most requested songs at the concert, including some she recorded herself and some she wrote for other musicians.
"I try to make a show list up, but it's hard. I'm like a puppy: I don't stay on the paper very good," she laughed. "Sometimes you like to just do what you feel."
Tickets for the Jefferson City concert cost $20 and are available at Central Motor Bank in Jefferson City and at Maries County Bank in Vienna.
In addition to touring, Williams continues to write songs. Later this year she hopes to record demos for two songs she recently co-wrote about surviving breast cancer.
"I had breast cancer in 2001, and that was no fun," she said. "Thank God I'm still around here."
And while she's focusing more and more on spending time with her children and grandchildren, she has no plans to retire from music anytime soon.
"I'm not ready for that yet," Williams said. "I am getting a few years on me - I have to be honest - and I'm proud of it.
"How many years can you keep singing? But as long as the Lord lets me walk and talk, and keeps me in good spirits and keeps my health, I'm going to go where they want real country music. It's what I know."