 At first, Williams worked shining shoes and doing odd jobs, but soon became known as a singer and master of ceremonies.By the early 1910s, he was a well-regarded local entertainer also playing piano, and was composing new tunes by 1913.Williams was a good businessman and worked arranging and managing entertainment at the local African-American vaudeville theater as well as at various saloons and dance halls around Rampart Street, and at clubs and houses in Storyville.