Stephen Wilson Jr.

Emerging from the countryside of southern Indiana, singer and songwriter Stephen Wilson, Jr. fuses Americana and Nashville country sounds with an outlaw edge drawn from grunge and indie rock. His recording career began in 2019 via the single “The Devil,” and his debut full-length album, Søn of Dad, arrived four years later.

Born in Seymour, Indiana, Wilson, Jr. grew up under the care of a single father who worked as a professional boxer. Much of his youth unfolded inside the ring, where he ultimately reached the finals of the Indiana State Golden Gloves competition. Teaching himself guitar, he absorbed inspiration from Willie Nelson, Kurt Cobain, Bruce Springsteen, the National, Glen Campbell, Randy Travis, and local hero John Mellencamp. After earning a Microbiology degree from Middle Tennessee State University, he helped establish the indie-rock group AutoVaughn. For the following five years he traveled as the band’s lead guitarist, after which he took a position as a food scientist at Mars, Inc. While employed there he began composing songs, eventually securing a publishing agreement with BMG Nashville that led to cuts by Caitlyn Smith and Old Dominion, Tim McGraw, Trace Adkins, Chase Bryant, Mackenzie Porter, Kameron Marlow, Sixpence None the Richer, and his wife Leigh Nash.

Wilson’s first single, “The Devil,” appeared in 2019 and was succeeded by “Year to Be Young.” Both tracks surfaced on the 2023 EP Bon Aqua, which also contained the Hailey Whitters-assisted “American Gothic.” Later the same year he unveiled the album Søn of Dad, an homage to his father that incorporated the six songs from Bon Aqua plus sixteen additional pieces, among them the energetic “Holler from the Holler” and the poignant title track.