Young talent puts the “phenom” into “phenomenal”
Level-headed, goal-oriented musicians. They may not be rare, but they certainly aren’t common. Put another way, for every musician you meet who has conquered or avoided the pitfalls of ego, excess, or just not being very good, there are a hundred more wrestling with some combination of all three.
Many are lost through the process of attrition; others power through and eventually emerge on the other side of it all with their act together. That process can take years.
Every so often though you run in to that truly rare beast, a young level-headed, goal oriented musician whose maturity (musically and professionally) gives them such a jump-start on the process that their success is inevitable. Wesley Chitwood is such a person, and it is my pleasure to review the first single from his upcoming album this week.
Country music is the forte of this singer/songwriter from Chattanooga and he exhibits a real talent for it. His lyrics are mature, his arrangements are classic country and his deep baritone singing is made for Nashville. He’s also nineteen.
I doubt that sentence has the impact I mean for it to convey because you likely haven’t heard his music yet, but here’s the thing; hearing the music and knowing nothing at all about the man making it, it’d be hard to draw any other conclusion besides, “He’s genuinely talented.”
You might suspect (and be forgiven for it) that he must be in his forties and has spent the last twenty years making mistakes and perfecting his craft.
Now factor in the detail that he isn’t even old enough to legally drink in the places where his music will be adored and you go from, “He’s genuinely talented,” to “Good lord, this kid is a prodigy and bound for stardom.”
Chitwood is the sort of phenom that makes a grumpy, middle-aged musician like myself smile in admiration while muttering under my breath about how much I could sell my guitar for.
He is preternaturally good and while I don’t want to belabor the point, I must make it perfectly clear that he writes and sings like a man more than twice his age with all the wisdom, maturity and craftsmanship that come with half a lifetime of experience.
The single, “Mirror,” is the first from his new album and was released just a few weeks ago. The song is a down-tempo, introspective piece about a man who’s lost his confidence and is wracked with self-doubt. Curiously, and to the songwriter’s credit, the song never delves in to why, which gives it a sort of fill-in-the-blank quality, allowing for a much broader and more universal appeal. There’s some genius there.
Audiences love songs that are relatable and insecurity is a relatable concept, but by refraining from specifics, Chitwood allows the listener to apply their own experience to the tune. That’s very clever writing and genuinely not what you see from younger artists (who tend to be heavy-handed with detail.)
Instrumentally the song is solidly produced, a credit to Brent Crowe at BackBeat Sound Design. The combination of instrumentation with well-written lyrics and Chitwood’s amazing voice make for one of the finest country songs I’ve heard in a long time and if it’s any indication of what’s to come, the debut album will be phenomenal.
For now you can sample “Mirror” by Wesley Chitwood on iTunes. Remember the name, you’ll be hearing a lot more about this talented young fellow in the future.