Holly Williams comes by country music honestly. Literally, it runs through her blood. She’s not only the granddaughter of Hank Williams and the daughter of Hank Williams Jr., but she also fits the country music mold as a singer, songwriter and … fashion guru? Yes, her new women’s clothing store H. Audrey (H standing for Holly and Audrey being her middle name, after her paternal grandmother) carries a wide-range of clothing, accessories and other fashionable items for today’s woman.

“I carry everything from $50 really comfy worn-out T-shirts to $1000 python pumps,” Williams said. “I try to do a mix of everything from European designers to your good jeans and T-shirt basics.” Striking photographs of famous musicians are for sale in the upstairs gallery. Frequent shoppers include Carrie Underwood, Sheryl Crow, Jessica Simpson, LeAnn Rimes and Faith Hill, as well as Nashville stay-at-home moms. “We have a good gamut of stylish women who come in,” she said. (I can just imagine her granddaddy singing in the background, “Hey good lookin’”…)

From the killer Italian boots with a funky side-zip to the all-natural cosmetic line, Holly Williams is not only making a name for herself in country music – her new album is due this summer — but also in country fashion. “In a weird way,” she says, “it’s almost like when you write a song and people respond to your songs.”

Williams’ idea for H. Audrey came about while touring. After her continuous exposure to various fashion designers, she decided it was time to bring her newly found flair home to Nashville. ”I feel like we do have something for everyone and we try to cover price points from low to high, from celebrities to housewives, everyone. We try to fit any age, any type of person, so everyone can find something.”

A friend of Austin-based visual artist William Stidham was hounding him to paint Willie Nelson, but he wouldn’t relent – until she surprised him with a copy of The Tao of Willie. He read the book that weekend and promptly changed his mind. His watercolor portrait of Nelson ultimately became the first in his Sacred Heart series.

“What I really wanted to symbolize in that initial painting was all the heart that Willie brings to his life and the world he touches,” Stidham says.

He painted Nelson in four colors: red, black, the white of the watercolor paper and gold gauche. And after the painting was complete, he felt inspired to throw water on it. “When I finished that Sacred Heart of Willie, I nearly had an out of body experience. I mean, I was literally shaking. I knew I had done something different and very important to me,” he says. “The next day I was so excited that I took the painting to work. One of my co-workers started crying. I knew that I had touched something much deeper with this painting, and with this idea.”

Two years later, the Sacred Heart series now features Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams, along with numerous rock ‘n’ roll and religious figures. He’s now exhibiting at music festivals, restaurants and a gallery in Santa Fe, N.M. Still, because Stidham grew up in a family that loved Willie Nelson’s music, that first portrait still resonates. Because he works at the Austin radio station KGSR, Stidham had the opportunity to present Nelson with the first reproduction of the painting face-to-face.

“I learned something very important that moment: Willie Nelson is the most centered, in-the-moment person I have ever met. When he looks at you, he looks directly into you, and that particular moment is the only moment that matters to him. Very deep. Very touching. Very present,” Stidham recalls.

“Before I showed it to him, I told him the whole story of where I was, how I did it, what it had meant to me, where it was leading me. I then showed it to him,” he continues. “His eyes teared up. It was a very powerful moment. Just look at me in that picture. I look like I’m floating out of my body.”