Vegas Stripped: Closer to the Lord on Fremont Street — VIDEO

The closest he is to the Lord is not in a church or at the beach, it’s on Fremont Street in Las Vegas, where he performs 16-hour shifts of classics on Trinidadian steel drums.

The hordes of tourists and locals that criss-cross Fremont Street present endless opportunities to share what God has done for him, and give him a platform for his music, as an international professional street performer.

He started on the streets of Santa Monica, then expanded across California, playing festivals and farmers markets. He then headed to Toronto, then Orlando, then international: Australia, Japan and then back to Hawaii.

His music is greeted with applause, dancing and sometimes some cash.

“Places I perform people don’t come to see me, people don’t have a clue who I am,” he said. “So I have to get their attention.”

For that reason he doesn’t write his own music but plays the Beatles, Dr. Zhivago or La Bamba. As people walk past they slowly recognize the tune and pause, then approach. And that universal connection is everything to Williams.

“I like Fremont, it’s good to me, it’s good for me, and I think I’m good for it too.”

“Vegas Stripped” is a weekly profile series appearing on reviewjournal.com and on the Review-Journal’s Facebook page. Find Rachel Aston on Twitter: @rookie__rae