Tony Scott: 0:13

Welcome to T the Jay Franze Show, a behind-the-curtain look at the entertainment industry, with insights you can't pay for and stories you've never heard. Now here's your host, J jay Franze.

Jay Franze: 0:42

Well, hello, hello, hello and welcome to the show. I am Jay Franze and this is your backstage pass to the entertainment industry. This week we get to talk with a country music recording artist. We get to talk with Will Wesley. We'll talk to him about how Brian Abrams has impacted his career, his single Ready to Ride, and we'll discuss the challenges that he's faced along the way. Now, will, he is not only an amazing artist, but he is just a great person, and I can't wait to talk with him tonight. So you would like to join in comment or fire off any questions? Please head over to JayFranze. com. Now let's get started. Will sir, how are you?

Will Wesley: 1:26

Jay, I'm doing good, it's good to be here on the show and I'm looking forward to having a chat with you, my friend that is cool, sir.

Jay Franze: 1:32

I've been waiting for this for a little while now. I'm very excited we only have six. What did we say six or seven hours tonight?

Will Wesley: 1:39

Yeah, I thought you said it was 12.

Jay Franze: 1:40

Well, yeah, if we have to go 12, we will, but let's try to knock it out in six. All right, sir, if you could, why don't we just start off by telling me how Brian Abrams impacted your career?

Will Wesley: 2:00

That is a very, very honest question. My friend, brian Abrams, was a very dear friend and manager to me. I met him down in Florida. I was playing a show down there and we were at the Holiday Inn of all places doing a concert series on the beach. And Brian approaches me and he says series on the beach. And Brian approaches me and he says, will, I just caught your show? I don't know you from Adam. I want to manage you and I want to bring you to the top. Well, you don't hear that every day, right? You know, we met and we talked over, you know, business over that night and I gave him a call Monday morning, you know, and we started working together. He was a very, very special person in the fact that he really believed in me and he believed in the music that I was writing and performing.

Will Wesley: 2:37

And then, unfortunately, we lost Brian in December, december 11th of last year, he died of a massive heart attack and that was a crushing blow to me, man. It put not just my career in a state of uncertainty, but it also it's just hard to lose a personal friend like that in the way that I lost him and, you know, by the act of God. You know his, his wife, yulia Abrams. She is taking over the role that Brian was working on to keep moving the music forward. So you know it's been a very sad but a very blessed you know turn of events, you know. But Brian's impact on my career will never be forgotten, you know, just the belief alone was enough to make me really be highly motivated to try to not only record music to get out there to the people, but to keep his memory alive as well. Sure.

Jay Franze: 3:30

Oh, absolutely. How long did you have a chance to work with him before he passed?

Will Wesley: 3:35

You know, that's the real oddness of it all. Me and Brian worked together for about a year before his passing. We covered a lot of ground in one year, you know, and we were really gearing up for a lot of the things and unfortunately he wasn't around to see the release of the music that we're releasing today. That's how quick life can change, my friend. It can come and go.

Jay Franze: 3:57

Absolutely no. It's sad when something like that happens, especially when it happens that quick.

Will Wesley: 4:02

Yeah.

Jay Franze: 4:02

What's the biggest memory from that time?

Will Wesley: 4:05

My biggest memory of Brian was riding through the streets of Asia. You know, brian was a very lovable person. He was a likable person, you know, and people always wanted to be around Brian. And one of my biggest memories of Brian was we were riding through Bangkok, thailand, and he just turns around and looks at me. He goes. You know, that song you got coming out 12 o'clock in Texas is going to be a huge hit and we're going to tour the world on that song. You know, unfortunately he didn't make it to that and the song isn't currently released until later this month. But that's my biggest memory of Brian is him saying that.

Jay Franze: 4:44

It's pretty cool to have somebody who believes in you like that, right. I mean it's got to be. It's got to feel good to have somebody who supports you like that.

Will Wesley: 4:51

It really does, Jay. You know, to have someone believe in you and to help you. You know you have your dreams, but to have someone else actually believe and invest in your dreams, like Brian and Yulia is doing, is a very, very special thing.

Jay Franze: 5:05

How did that?

Will Wesley: 5:06

make you feel, when they first approached you, a little shocked. You know, I'm kind of a man I come from the I come from the other side of town man where you got to kind of work for everything you get, you know, and you got to kind of count your blessings so to have someone actually give you a helping hand and believe in what you're doing. I'll be honest with you, it's kind of trippy man. I mean I wasn't expecting it when it first happened but uh, I embraced it once I found it well, you mentioned being from the other side of the tracks and you're from the Baton Rouge area.

Jay Franze: 5:34

How do you feel like the blues scene in that area has affected the style of music that you play today?

Will Wesley: 5:41

I think the blues affects everything I do, you know, and the reason why I say that yes, it's no lie, it's complete honest that I come up in the blues world, back in a lot of great blues artists. Naturally it finds its way into your writing and what you do. But to me the blues is more than just music. The blues is a way of life, you know, and with me I was brought up in that way of life, you know, not having a lot of money as a kid and having to see my father work and my mother work to make ends meet, and getting into the music business and realizing that those ethics are still alive and well. In my very life, the blues has always had an impact on how I see the world. So therefore, even though I'm in country music, the blues definitely has an impact on how I write songs and how I try to present those songs to the people around me.

Jay Franze: 6:32

Well, you say the blues is a way of life. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Will Wesley: 6:37

Yeah, you know a lot of what I mean by the blues is a way of life is it's how you look at the world. You know, I look at the blues more like church man, you know, like the blues is about consoling people. The blues is about sharing your life experiences with people, letting people realize that you're not alone in your struggles and in the journey. The blues is, to me, is the spiritual thing. So when I say the blues is a way of life, I mean it more on a spiritual level. I believe the blues is something that we all, we all have. You know, there are just a select few of us that express it in our music and our expression in our everyday life. So really, I guess what I'm saying is it's a way of life because it's a testimonial to the life we live.

Jay Franze: 7:19

Oh, very true, I can see that for sure. But I mean it's also opened doors for you, right? I mean you've had an opportunity to go on the road or play with Larry Garner. What was that like?

Will Wesley: 7:30

Oh yeah, oh yeah. Larry was definitely one of the first experiences I had as a younger man hitting the road. You know, because you know traveling's always been something that has influenced me. I love the open road, I love touring, I love seeing new places and Larry was the first one to give me that opportunity. You know, we went up to St Louis, we went to different places from Arkansas down in the south and going up north and and to hit the road with a blues man and to see how these smoky blues clubs are kind of the same. Anywhere you go, man, you know, learning that, learning the ropes and learning how to pay dues in that sense will always stay with me, you know, and also, as the years going on back in other blues artists and even touring out of the country with those blues artists really shaped and molded me as an artist myself, Well, let's talk about that for a minute.

Jay Franze: 8:16

Tell me what it was like the first time you went on the road playing with blues artists.

Will Wesley: 8:22

The first time I went on the road a very funny story. I was so determined to go on the road, I had just had gallbladder surgery. I had just had gallbladder surgery. I've had that. It is not fun. And the doctor tells me yeah right. The doctor tells me. He says look, will you're going to have to cancel this tour? You're going on. You kind of need weeks to heal from that and I was like man, forget that. That's not going to happen.

Jay Franze: 8:53

You're going to stitch me up and I'm going to be on that bus tomorrow morning. And there's the blues way of life, right there, there's the way of life.

Will Wesley: 8:56

my friend right there, you know. So true story. You know, um, I got the gallbladder surgery. They stitched me up, put patches on me and, um, I had to go on the road to St Louis, actually with Larry that very next day and, um, I'm limping there trying to cause look, man, back in those days you know what I'm talking about Amps and everything were a lot bigger. So I'm toting this big amp around and I got a Gibson Les Paul. I'm trying to tote all this stuff with a ripped open stomach and I'm trying to hide it too. I'm just a kid, you know.

Will Wesley: 9:29

And um, I get there and Larry's's like man, something, something ain't right. And I was like, well, what do you mean, man? Let's see, let's get on the road, let's hurry up and go. And he was like you're limping. And uh, man, you picked the wrong day to wear a white t-shirt. I looked down, man, and that whole white t-shirt was just bloody because I had just gotten out of surgery. I was like, oh, no, man, he's. What's going on? I said, look, man, I had surgery yesterday and I want to be on the road with you, so I'm not taking no for an answer. He looks me in the face. He said well, anybody with that kind of determination, I'm not going to crush their dreams, come on. That was my first story of going on the road with a blues band right after a surgery, my friend, right after a surgery.

Jay Franze: 10:19

Oh, that's crazy. I remember that surgery. It was not fun. I asked the doctor if I could keep the stones and he gave me a few of the stones in a little jar. They looked like little milk duds.

Will Wesley: 10:24

Yeah, mine was about the size of an avocado seed, I reckon.

Jay Franze: 10:28

Yeah, no, not good. So then you also had the chance to travel around the world. How did that even come about?

Will Wesley: 10:36

I'll tell you, I was on a music video shoot and they just needed extras for a shoot out in Natchez, mississippi, and I got a call from a friend of mine named TK and she said hey, you're perfect for this video. I said, well, who's the artist? And they said his. His name is Grady Champion and he's just doing a house party video. I meet Grady and you know we kind of hit it off. We were getting along pretty well and all of a sudden I just start strumming the guitar and playing and he really liked the way I sounded and he was like man, do you know music theory? I said I do, yeah, definitely learned my theory. And we got through with the video. And I just get a random call a day later and he's like look, man, I want you to be my music director.

Will Wesley: 11:18

Well, from there, you know, we had toured all over the United States and we were doing like the Blues Museum out in Missouri and stuff like that, and we were basically touring all around and then he, he hit me up saying that we were going to go tour Bern, switzerland. The funny thing about that is, at that point in my life I had never been on an airplane and your first airplane flight to be to burn switzerland. You can imagine how long of a flight that is. Yeah, only about 30 minutes. Yeah, very similar to the, the surgery. Um, I was like, well, I'm scared to death, I'm getting on that plane. We got on there and the flight was smooth, you know, and that was my first tour, you know, we landed in Bern and we had a great. I think we were playing a place called Marion's Jazz Room and the tour went great and it was just a whole nother experience there that I fell in love with Europe and I've been touring there ever since it's just funny that your first trip is to Switzerland.

Jay Franze: 12:09

You know most people hope they can travel around the country or something and you get to go to Switzerland.

Will Wesley: 12:14

That was my first tour, man, yeah, very blessed very blessed.

Jay Franze: 12:23

It looks like you know you're. You're like you're meeting with Brian as well as you're meeting with Grady. They just seem to happen to you.

Will Wesley: 12:27

You know it's funny. You should say that because I was just having that conversation with my wife today. She was like Will things just tend to work out for you? You got a bit of luck on your side Funny story, just not to ramble, but yes, things like that happen to me often. I went to the dentist today and I've never been to the dentist in my life and they said your teeth are perfect. And my wife was like how does that happen? So I guess I've always had God on my side. Man, I've had some tough breaks, but I've also had some lucky breaks and I have to be honest, it does seem like things just tend to find me. It lets me know I'm on the right path, I suppose.

Jay Franze: 13:06

We could take a whole other tangent of about a 30-minute conversation of why you've never been to a dentist to this point. Well, I told you the blues is a way of life, man. Well, let's jump into your music a little bit, can you tell?

Will Wesley: 13:20

us about the single Ready to Ride. You know, ready to Ride man, it was the first song that we were going to release on the collection of work that Brian was helping us promote. It's a straightforward song, man. It's a let your hair down, country rocker, just sunny day and having a good time with your friends, kind of tune man. It's a straightforward song, man. It's a let your hair down, country rocker, just sunny day and having a good time with your friends, kind of tune man. It's a song that we basically went in the studio to record it and me and my bandmate, phil Chandler he helped me co-write the song.

Will Wesley: 13:47

The funniest part about the recording of this song is when we went in the studio we decided that we both were going to lay a solo down on this song. The funniest thing about it is we just found out that we're nominated for a josie award in the guitar category this year. So we were trying to work out, if we win, how we're going to split that award because, uh, he played a solo and I played a solo. So I said, look, we'll just put it in the office and we'll split it right down the middle, you know. But yeah, ready to Ride is definitely. It's definitely a song about just having a good time hanging out with your friends, man, and just kind of letting go of all your troubles.

Jay Franze: 14:24

It kind of feels like that, like an anthem for your career. Right, the blues way of life.

Will Wesley: 14:30

Definitely so. You know it's like I said, even though it's country rock, southern rock, you know it's always going to have blues influence.

Jay Franze: 14:37

Well, let's take it a step further. You said you wrote the song with him.

Will Wesley: 14:41

I did.

Jay Franze: 14:41

So what was the writing process like?

Will Wesley: 14:44

You know, Ready to Ride was one of the first of a long collection of songs for this album that's coming, and the writing process often goes the same with me and Phil where I'm a bit of an idea man.

Will Wesley: 14:55

So I'll lay down the composition and I'll lay down the lyrics, and usually we'll run a draft by each other and then he's kind of my critiquer, He'll listen to it and, hey, we need to work on these lyrics, we need to work on these changes.

Will Wesley: 15:07

Hey, we might want to go to cut time or full time here. Basically, the way that the songwriting on this particular one went is I came with a draft of it and the first thing he noticed was he was like, look, we need to put a cut time over the intro of the song and from there everything just kind of fell into place, man. So I mean, basically it's about a 50-50. 50 collaboration between us and we definitely knew that we wanted to put a little bit more guitar work in this song than what you're hearing in a lot of modern country today. We wanted to really kind of exercise the fact that we're a guitar driven band, you know, and I hope that we accomplished that and so far the people seem to be very happy with it. I hope we accomplished that and they're very happy.

Jay Franze: 15:49

I noticed a lot of things about the instrumentation of the song, but I did. I did note that the guitar solo was pretty impressive and it's kind of cool to hear that you did a split solo like that.

Will Wesley: 15:59

That's kind of. The funniness of the song is that we never thought we were going to get nominated for a Josie Award in that category. Well, that's pretty impressive. Well, thank you very much, I do appreciate it.

Jay Franze: 16:10

Yeah, absolutely so. The studio process. Where did you record?

Will Wesley: 16:14

it. That's the own. Cool thing about me and Phil is that we have our own studio. Man, every song that you hear of mine comes out of Roanoke Records, which is a small label that we're running together. We're co-owners of the label. All the songs that you're hearing are songs that are created organically. I write them, we'll go through the process and then we will go in the studio and we have our own band perform on this. If we need additional instrumentation, we'll bring that in. The honesty of my music is that everything is created from the ground up and we have complete creative control over that. I'm very adamant on remaining creatively in control of my writings, because, you know, my writings are very personal to me, so that's um. The recording process that we go through is is really just controlled by me and Phil, and then we just bring in a companies around us.

Jay Franze: 17:06

So are the two of you producing it together then?

Will Wesley: 17:10

Yes, yeah, Phil is my main producer. Well, you know, I'll give production notes, you know, but he's more or less the overall producer, you know. But we work together, we work very close together on how to get these songs where we both agree that they're. They're mainstream, but they also hold on to the honest songwriting and sometimes even the retro Phil. So we're I would say that I'm a co-producer, but I would call Phil the main producer on all this stuff.

Jay Franze: 17:35

Sure, no, absolutely. So when you go in the studio, then what's the production process like?

Will Wesley: 17:42

We record two different ways. Sometimes we will record with the whole band and we'll have a click track and we'll start from from the basis, letting the drummer guide, and we'll go from there and then on other ones, we will, um, we will, um, we will, we will overdub, you know. So a lot of our process on ready to ride was we um, we recorded with the live band. We had the drums, the bass and and the rhythm guitars, but then we came back and um, we overdub.

Will Wesley: 18:08

You know naturally, the, the lead vocal and the harmonies and we we had a very talented fiddle player by the name of Michael Cleveland on the track. Amazing. Michael has played with anybody and everybody. He's the real deal. A lot of the fiddle playing you're hearing on there was by the man himself. We'll bring him in as an overdub and the vocals and the lead guitars as an overdub. We try to record as organically as we can with a live band. We rehearse and we keep it honest with the metronome. So that's our way of doing it. I'm sure people do it differently, but we try to keep it organic.

Jay Franze: 18:41

I love the way that you say you keep it honest with the metronome. That's awesome. Well, the metronome don't lie. No, it doesn't, sir, not at all. You also mentioned the fiddle player, and the fiddle going into the chorus is pretty cool. It's got a really cool lick to it. So is that something that the fiddle player came up with on their own or is it something that they were directed to do To be?

Will Wesley: 19:04

honest, I don't. We don't produce or direct nothing that Mr Michael Cleveland does. We just let him use the magic of his talents. Because he's amazing. This is our second collaboration together. He had played fiddle on a tune of mine called Leah on my last album and he nailed it in one take, and he was actually. His words to me were Will, I'm going on tour and I'm going out of town, so I've got about 20 minutes to record this song. He recorded it in about four. He nailed it in one take and that lick that you're hearing and it is very, very sharp. He did that on one take. So that's.

Will Wesley: 19:40

I cannot brag on Michael Cleveland enough at how talented he really is.

Jay Franze: 19:44

Very, very impressive. Yes, well, I say that he plays that impressive lick, but it's going into a fairly powerful chorus. Did you intend it to be that powerful in the writing process or did it come out when you were in the studio?

Will Wesley: 19:59

The first thing that I had played for Phil. The chorus was right there. You know, what me and him worked on was the verses and how we were going to present that. But a lot of times when I write a song, the chorus is usually my strongest hook, naturally. So I find that the choruses usually stay the same, but we'll do work on the verses around the chorus. So, yes, the verse was actually untouched in the rewriting and the perfecting of this song.

Jay Franze: 20:27

When you talk about working on the verse, whose idea was it for the vocal effect in the second verse?

Will Wesley: 20:32

That was Phil's, that's all. Phil. Phil's a great producer, you know. And we were, we were. We listened to the first draft of the song and we were trying to figure out what we can do to spice it up a little bit. And it was definitely Phil's idea to put some vocal effect on the second, on the second verse, and he did it and, to be honest with you, I loved it.

Jay Franze: 20:51

So we just ran with it second verse, and he did it and, to be honest with you, I loved it, so we just ran with it. It sounds awesome. I love that type of thing. Being a mix engineer myself, that's something that I always strive for and I always hope that artists like when you put something like that in there. So it's kind of cool that you're open to that kind of collaboration when you're in the studio.

Will Wesley: 21:09

Well, you know, I'm a believer that the producer can make or break you and I've been lucky with Phil because he's very in tune to the vision that I have and he also knows how to make it better. So a lot of his ideas, the minute he presents them they just really blossom, you know, and I always see where they really enhance the band and enhance the sound. So we really are a good partnership, we really are.

Jay Franze: 21:35

I know you've known them for a long time, but how long has the partnership been going on?

Will Wesley: 21:39

Me and Phil's been in a business for about five years now but we've been playing. I'd say I met him closer to eight or nine years ago. You know he was a bass player and we were introduced by a mutual drummer friend of mine. You know, when we first met it was just kind of like who are you, who are you? But after that we kind of became pretty tight buddies and it's been traveling the world ever since man.

Jay Franze: 22:02

Let me guess you just stumbled upon him, right? He just found me.

Will Wesley: 22:07

Jay.

Jay Franze: 22:10

Dear God, I need the blues way of life. I really do. I don't know if it works for everyone, but I'm gonna start living that way starting today. So all right, the song attitude was he part of that?

Will Wesley: 22:25

he was. Attitude was, um. I think attitude was the first song that me and phil truly collaborated on, because the both sides of the tracks album in 2020 it was a double disc album and a lot of the songs were already written and it was a collection of songs from projects that I had been in over the years. And then I started writing new songs for this album, and Attitude was the first one that I wrote. I brought it to Phil and he was like yeah, yeah, man, this is great. We just need to work on a few lyrics here and a few chord changes. And we got it, and I really do believe that was the first collaborative effort between me and Phil.

Jay Franze: 23:04

Let me just point out it's the first collaborative effort with you and Phil and of course it's the one that tops the charts.

Will Wesley: 23:11

It just found me again, you know, and of all places, in Milan, italy. I know, right, how did that come about? I have a friend named Nick that I uh, that I let hear the song, and he lives in Milan, italy, and he was like, man, I really want to promote this song, I really want to get this song out there, um, would you mind? And I said, of course not. You know, I need as much exposure as I could.

Will Wesley: 23:39

At the time, you know, the whole world was shut down. You know, he starts spending this on his show. I'm sitting at home one night and he calls, he sends me a message and he's like Will, how does it feel to have the number one song on the European Academy of Country Music charts? I said, well, I don't have the number one song on the Academy of country music charts. And he's like yes, you do. Attitude just stopped it and I said I said, are we live right now? He said, yes, we are. And I went well, you should have prepared me for that, because I'm I was not informed that.

Will Wesley: 24:06

I even was on the charts, let alone topping the charts. So yeah, that kind of just found me too Surprise.

Jay Franze: 24:13

And that again par for the course tonight. That's awesome, I love it.

Will Wesley: 24:17

Irony, is the subject of this interview. That's what I'm saying.

Jay Franze: 24:22

So since then, you've had a chance to play at some pretty impressive places. So let's talk about that. What was the most impressive moment for you?

Will Wesley: 24:31

Well, we've had several. A very highlighting thought that comes to my mind is we went to Switzerland and the tour went great the first time, but last year when we went, we had sold out shows and everybody were singing the lyrics to the songs. Man, that's a wonderful feeling to have your music crossed upon and everybody knows the lyrics and they're singing along with you and they're getting involved. I mean, that's just such a a magical feeling. I'd have to say that was one of my first magical moments. And the second is we just played the whiskey, a go-go, and a Los Angeles, california, where you know, if you're in the rock and roll, I'm sure that your favorite band has played there at one point, you know. And for a country act to go in there and to be able to to have a show at the Whiskey, at Go-Go, I was like, wow, this is a, this is amazing. You know playing where Slash and Guns N' Roses and everyone else starts, so that's amazing.

Jay Franze: 25:27

So you've had the opportunity to, to play all these impressive places, top the charts and have a lot of this stuff just manifest its way to you. What kind of challenges have you faced along the way?

Will Wesley: 25:39

You know we talk about the things that find you, but sometimes the things that find you are not always good. You know, some of the challenges along the way have been I've lost a lot of people, a lot of people that I love dearly, have been I've lost a lot of people, a lot of people that I love dearly, things that I um, that I, that I talk about openly in hopes to helping people, is in 2021, january of 21,. We lost my brother, daniel, and Daniel was uh, he was a member of our team. He helped us from everything from roadieing to, you know, helping with music videos, and we were very close. And Dan died suddenly and I openly tell people about it because I want to help people with music and Daniel died of a heroin overdose, something I never understood. I never done drugs or anything like that, but my brother, he had that crutch and one of the challenges along the way was losing Daniel, the way we lost him, and that's actually the inspiration behind my upcoming single. It's talking about the grief that you feel after losing a brother and having to continue to tour and do all these things, but you know it's tearing you apart.

Will Wesley: 26:52

There has definitely been a lot of bumps in the road. We recorded a tune called A New Kind of Blues back in 2020 with a very talented blues player by the name of Kern. Pratt Kern was an amazing, amazing guitarist, amazing blues player out of Greenville, Mississippi. I wrote a song and collaborated with him about the pandemic, about everything being shut down, and then, ironically, he passed away from COVID-19. And these kind of obstacles have definitely been stacked along the journey that we've been on. So, with these new collection of songs, what I've decided to try to do is use the music for a greater good, you know, keep these people's memory and spirit alive through the music, and that's something that we are really going to be trying to push even further with 12 O'Clock in Texas. So a lot of good has found me along the way, but a lot of tough times have as well. Nothing in life is free, I suppose.

Jay Franze: 27:49

No, it's never easy to lose anybody, so how are you overcoming this? I know you're writing the music for other people to understand, but how are you overcoming it?

Will Wesley: 28:04

You know, the first step to dealing with that kind of grief is acceptance. You know, my first step in working on accepting that years back was to accept that you can love people but you can't save them. And even a brother, as close as we were, there was just nothing I can do. Even to this day, I still struggle with the notion that I could have done more, I could have been more understanding, I could have been more understanding. But as the years go, on, the way that I've dealt with it is naturally to stay working, stay touring, to stay doing the music that he believed in, but also understanding that, though my brother is gone, the music can help other people. So I've really put myself into the idea of trying to help other people so that they don't succumb to this disease. And that's what it is. Addiction is a disease. My best therapy in that is to try to help others and try to keep if I can them away from the very things that took my brother, Do you?

Will Wesley: 29:11

feel like being an advocate is what keeps you motivated. I do. Yes, you know, I myself used to be a pretty big drinker and hell raiser and you know, in these years I've learned to. You know I've been I've been off of alcohol for well over a year now, you know, and just completely kicked it all together, you know. So it's. It's amazing how someone else's tragedy can be someone else's saving grace. You know, and I've learned to, to live a sober life and to not drink and to not. I don't need that stuff to be a performer and I don't need that stuff to be a songwriter. You know that stuff was in me before I ever was introduced to alcohol. So, yes, being an advocate does motivate me to not only help others but to keep myself straight.

Jay Franze: 29:57

So when you're writing these songs, which are deeply personal and you're, you're hoping that people can relate and you can kind of put some other people's pain at ease. What are you hoping that they take away by listening to your music? That just there's hope.

Will Wesley: 30:15

You know, I really would define the music that I write as hopeful. You know, no matter how bleak things can get or how how low down you can feel, there's always hope on a brighter day. You know, never give up hope and always keep believing in something. You know that's really as simple as it gets the message that I try to convey to people, because you know, because I don't have all the answers in life.

Will Wesley: 30:38

I would be a fool to sit here and tell you that I can tell you how to overcome all these obstacles. But I do know that faith and hope can sustain anything you're going through. So I do believe that the message of my music in its entirety is faith and hope.

Jay Franze: 30:56

The message of my music in its entirety is faith and hope.

Will Wesley: 31:04

Do you see that when you're performing live, that people are acknowledging that or coming up to you and talking about it? I do sometimes. You know a lot of my music is rowdy party based music, so I'm not going to. You know the message of hope can be viewed in different ways, whether it's having a good time or whether it's a lot more of a deeper song like 12 O'Clock in Texas. But sometimes I just get people giving you the stereotypical hey, you're awesome, I love you Rock and roll. But I have had many, many fans listen to the newer music and you know they have came and talked about 12 o'clock in Texas and how universal it is and how. You know everyone has known someone close or far, that has been through something like that. So I have heard the message of hope in our more serious songs and it seems to be relating and translating to people. So that's my goal.

Jay Franze: 31:56

Well, you talk about your music being that more rowdy party type music. What do you enjoy?

Will Wesley: 32:02

most about performing. Live Energy, man Energy that's what I love. I love an energetic crowd. I love a rowdy crowd. I love a crowd that still loves to come out there and enjoy live music. You know, because that's why musicians love the tour, that's why we like to get out there, man. We love to feed off the crowd and receive the energy from the crowd. So, when it comes to a live show, that's that's what I really look forward to more than anything Just a live, rowdy, energetic and appreciative audience. I love that.

Jay Franze: 32:32

What's the craziest thing that's ever happened to you on the road?

Will Wesley: 32:36

Oh wow, I love that. What's the craziest thing that's ever happened to you on the road? Oh wow, I've got a lot of these stories. I would say one of the craziest things that I can ever remember. I've had a lot of crazy stories, but when I was a lot younger I mean, I'm not very old now, but I'm talking about when I was in my teens and 20s I used to play this club about three hours, two hours down the road called the Under the Hill Saloon in Natchez, mississippi.

Will Wesley: 33:03

There was a by the name. They called him the Godfather and this man would show up in the club and ask us to play. House of the Rising Sun Could be a completely original set, but that's what he wanted us to do. House of the Rising Sun Could be a completely original set, but that's what he wanted us to do. And he would ask if he could sing it. Now we would start playing and singing this song and he would get on a chair and this man would go to taking off his clothes and screaming this song lyrically. It was something out of the Twilight Zone and I would be looking out into this audience like whoa, the women love it. I've never seen anything like it in all of my life, like they would huddle around this guy and they would start singing along with him. And that's when I realized that I was not in my backyard anymore. You know, there are some definitely interesting colorful stories out here on the great big road.

Jay Franze: 33:58

We've talked about your career. You know how you start your writing process, your production process, even time on the road. But the business side of it you know. When it comes down to it, music is a business. So do you have much participation in the business side of it?

Will Wesley: 34:14

I do. I'm actually hands-on on all of my business, from anything from publicity to social media to sales, the taxes, everything that you have to do to keep a business going. Because me and Phil both run Roanoke Records. We're both hands-on on how the business has got to be run. So I began to learn a couple of years back that if you're going to be in the music business, you got to know the music, but you also got to know the business, and the business is one of the most important things you can learn is because you can't succeed in something if you don't know how it works. It's an organic label, so everything has to go through me or has to go through Phil. I'm pretty hands-on on everything that comes through.

Jay Franze: 34:56

Well, you mentioned a couple of things there I want to touch on. One is you mentioned social media, and I know social media is one of those things. It's a blessing and a curse. It's a full-time job within itself. So if you're handling your own social media, what type of strategy do you have when it comes to trying to develop newer fans?

Will Wesley: 35:17

You know, we recently have brought on a social media team that manages my socials these days, but before those days, my biggest secret to social media was honesty and intimacy. You know your supporters, your friends, your fans you know they know when it's really you and when it's not. Supporters, your friends, your fans you know. They know when it's really you and when it's not. Even if you're posting or you're, you know you're putting something out there. They know when it's real. And the engagement that, before we brought on the social media teams that I would do is I was very honest with my supporters and I'd also keep them constantly updated on what we're doing.

Will Wesley: 35:52

You know, because I look, what I think is really special about social media is that it gives the fans an opportunity to come along with you for the ride. People who may not be able to tour to Alabama or tour to South Carolina, you know they can keep up with you. So I almost look at my social media like it was a documentary in itself. You know, keeping everyone who who's following us and keeping up with us in the know and letting them kind of go on tour with us even though they may physically not be able to at times. That's how I started it and we just grew it from there. You know, now that we've got dom and vintage media and all these great folks helping with the social media, we've just basically grown on that idea, you know. So we're trying to grow more and more by keeping the fans involved and keeping them on the road with us.

Jay Franze: 36:40

Do you personally respond to the comments?

Will Wesley: 36:43

I do. I can't respond to every one of them. That can become exhausting. I really do try to make an effort to respond to as many comments as I can. I really do try to engage with anyone who's engaging with us, you know, and that's what I mean by intimacy, you know, I believe that as long as I can do it and as long as it doesn't get too overwhelming, I'm always going to try to respond. You know, to let people know that we can speak that goes a long way with people, I think, to feel like they're part of it and we actually talk about you know. To let people know that they can, we can speak. That goes a long way with people, I think, to feel like they're part of it and we actually talk about, you know, what they like and what they. You know what they follow.

Jay Franze: 37:22

The other thing you mentioned in there with your label, Rowan Oak Records, is that it's organic and that you're building it. Do you plan on representing other artists?

Will Wesley: 37:35

You know, right now, with all that's been going on with my career, you know it's been a full time job, just more or less managing all the tour dates, the business behind the scenes, you know, like we discussed the social media and constantly trying to stay on top of the constant business that's coming in and there's a lot, you know. But we are looking to, in the years to come, bring on other artists and kind of teach them what we know and try to represent. We're a good ways off from that but it is definitely in our goals to start representing other artists.

Jay Franze: 38:08

Yes, so, with that in mind, I mean up to this point what are you most grateful for?

Will Wesley: 38:15

I'm just grateful to actually be able to still perform in this business and to make a living doing what I do. You know, you know a lot of it is a lot more of a grounded approach with me. I'm very thankful to be able to write songs and to perform those songs for people, and I'm also very grateful that I get to meet new people and tour this great big world, something I've always loved to do. It's something that just it's what motivates me. You know, new places, new cultures and just seeing all these new people and making new fans. You know, I never really met a stranger and that's one of the biggest blessings that I feel I have is to be able to write music, perform music and meet new people along the way. So that's feel I have is to to be able to write music, perform music and meet new people along the way. So that's that's what I cherish the most about being a musician and a touring artist.

Jay Franze: 39:01

What's next for you?

Will Wesley: 39:04

A lot. We're actually going to depart for Europe at the end of June. We're we're going. We got seven sold out shows there and we're going to go perform with my friend, florian Fox. There's a dear friend of mine, a great classic country artist, that we've we've done the single wasted again with, but we're also releasing 12 o'clock in texas this month. In june we got a very various, um deep video that's going along with it. It's going to tell the story of everything. I'm very excited to bring that to the people. Then, when we get back there, me and Florian are releasing another single. Tom's catching up to me. So basically, my year is mapped out. I'm going to be recording, I'm going to be touring, I'm going to be performing and maybe, if I'm lucky, getting some sleep in between.

Jay Franze: 39:48

What are you looking forward to most with this new tour?

Will Wesley: 39:53

I think what I'm looking for most in the European aspects is to get back to Europe and just meet the people again. You know, the fans over there are very good friends. They're very supportive, you know, and they've been writing a lot. When are you coming back?

Jay Franze: 40:09

alright, sir. Well, we do this thing here we call Unsung Heroes, where we take a moment to shine the light on somebody who works behind the scenes or has supported you along the way. Do you have anybody you'd like to shine a little light on?

Will Wesley: 40:20

You know, right now I would just like to shine the light on all the people that work so hard to get these interviews like with you possible. You know, scott at 2911, bill Chandler at Roanoke Records Scott does all the producing. You know, I'd like to thank Dom at Vintage Media and all of these people who just work so hard to make sure the music gets out there to the people. You know, it's a, it's a great team that I have behind me and I'd like to shine the light on them a little bit and thank them for all they do.

Jay Franze: 40:47

A big thanks to Will for taking the time to share his stories with us and thank you for taking the time to hang with me here. I really do appreciate it. If you know anybody that would enjoy this episode, please be sure to pass it along. You can do that and find the links to everything mentioned over at jfranzycom slash episode 76. Thanks again for listening and I'll see you next week.

Tony Scott: 41:13

Thanks for listening to T the Jay Franze show. Make sure you visit us at jayfranze. com. Follow, connect and say hello.