I wrote this song with Mickey Guyton about all the unsolicited “relationship advice” my wife and I have gotten over the years. The newlywed high wearing off,  the dreaded five-year itch, the butterflies flying away, etc. We’ve managed to avoid all those old cliche pitfalls that so many people fall into and we will continuously "burn that bridge when we get there, cuz we can't cross it if it ain't standing."

Burn That Bridge (Single)

Burn That Bridge

I wrote “You Don’t” in 2019 with Spencer Bartoletti and Presley Tucker. Presley is the daughter of country music icon, Tanya Tucker. The song was born out of a conversation about a relationship in which the girl asked the guy, “do you love me?” and the guy’s response was, “I don’t know.” My reply to this situation was, “if you don’t know.. you don’t.” Cue the immediate acoustic strumming and lyric mumbling. A couple of hours later, the song was done. I went home and recorded a simple acoustic/vocal demo and sent it to the girls. We talked about how we loved the song for a bit but ofcourse it went to live on dropbox alongside 500 other demos.. until a couple of weeks ago. I posted a verse/chorus clip on social media and people really latched onto it. In the last week it’s gathered over 150,000 views on Facebook alone. The last video I posted that started with this type of growth, climbed to over 1 Million views in just 1 month. So, I decided to take the “You Don’t” recording from demo to release ready and put it out asap, while the video is still moving at a steady rate. You Don’t” has a sonic blend in the vein of Dierks Bentley meets John Mayer. It’s acoustic driven but fully produced in a way that is competitive in today’s country music market. For fans of: Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban, Morgan Wallen, Jason Isbell, John Mayer.

“You Don’t” has a sonic blend in the vein of Dierks Bentley meets John Mayer. It’s acoustic driven but fully produced in a way that is competitive in today’s country music market. For fans of: Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban, Morgan Wallen, Jason Isbell, John Mayer.

You Don't

A fan left a comment on WILKES’ TikTok page that said, "Can you please please sing Brown Eyed Girl slowed down? My baby sister died in January & it's our song." WILKES felt moved with compassion for her & immediately put together a slow minor key version of the first Verse/Chorus of the song. It was posted a couple of days later with the caption "So sorry for your loss, I hope this warms your heart a little." Not only did she deeply connect with this short cover clip but the video was immediately swamped with comments of people saying they also felt a deep connection to this version of the song. The overwhelming reaction was "please release this" or "where can I get the full version?" This interpretation really shows how a music bed can effect a lyric. The lyrics of Brown Eyed Girl are very artistic, contemplative & sad. This version really draws that out in a way like you've never heard before. The lyrics really hit you & the meaning behind the song is laid out bare.

Brown Eyed Girl

Whether it be a breakup, a move to another part of the world, or a loss of life, the worst part about losing someone is how everything in your life goes from an "us" thing to a "me" thing. Your entire life goes "from us to me."

Us To Me

Call It Whatever

Wanna Be Us

Be Like You

What if "Happy" by Pharrell Williams was a sad song? Well... now it is.

Happy (sad version)

I've been a professional musician, "chasing the dream" as an artist, since 2000. This song is the truth about how I've felt over the years when it comes to my career. Lyrically, it is by far the most vulnerable and honest song I've ever written. It's all the things I feel but don't say out loud.   When I first started, I was amongst a group of musician friends who all had the same dream, same passion, and same drive as I did. Over the years they all dropped off one by one. It got too hard. They got too tired. Too many hours. Not enough money. Their relationships at home were falling apart. The list goes on and on.   These days it seems like I'm the only one left out of all those people I was originally running with. I still have every bit of passion and desire as I ever did... but sometimes I feel like I'm crazy for continuing to stick it out. "Crawl" is a diary entry that talks about my doubts, my fears, and my overwhelming exhaustion with chasing what I feel is my calling.   Even though I, and others around me, believe in what I'm doing, I still have doubts that I'm doing the right thing by staying in the game. Sometimes I wonder if the calling I feel like I have is just echos of my past successes making me long for another taste of grasping my goals. At the end of the day, I can't escape it. Any time I try to quit or consider hanging it all up... there is a resounding push back that tells me I can't go through with it. I still have not caught up to the dream but even if I have to crawl, I'll never stop chasing it.

Crawl

Sometimes we have people in our lives that simply make us better humans. My wife if that person for me. She has brought out a side of me that I didn't eve realize was there. I'm more compassionate, more caring, more thoughtful, more intentional and more empathetic now that I was before I met her. I never would've thought I could grow into the person I am now. If not for her, I don't think I ever would have. "Better Than I Was' is a song about the people that make us better.

This is my second release after making the decision to record and release whatever I want, regardless of what "the industry" is telling me. I've always tried to play the game just enough to keep the attention of the "power players" but I've decided to completely stop doing that. My previous release, "Crawl," was the first of those I-don't-care-anymore songs. "Better Than I Was" is the second. This coming batch of songs is 100% me unfiltered and unwatered-down.

Better Than I Was

All songs Copyright 2018 WILKES.
Produced by WILKES and Shane Cole.
Recorded at 27 Sounds in Waleska, GA.
Mixed by Jason Hall.
Mastered by Andrew Mendelson.

WILKES

Don't Speak

Jealous Of The Night

Jealous of The Night

Stealing From Heaven

Copyright 2018 WILKES.
Produced by WILKES.
Recorded at 27 Sounds in Waleska, GA.
Mixed by F. Reid Shippen at Robot Lemon in Nashville, TN
Mastered by Pete Lyman

Southern Comfortable Single

Southern Comfortable,

Southern Comfortable

I’m WILKES. I’m a story teller who speaks mostly through melody. I produce my own records because I’m an entrepreneur and it’s good business. Some say I’m country. Some say I’m rock. Others swear up and down that I’m pop. Looking back on those last three sentences, maybe I’m a little bit, Dr. Seuss.  I was the front man of a pop/rock band (High Flight Society), I slung my hair and held the bass in a hard rock band (Disciple), I’ve strummed acoustic and sang background vocals for a country music trailblazer (Sam Hunt), and I now fall somewhere in between. I sang my heart out and showcased my catlike reflexes on The Voice Season 14. I’ve been doing this a long dang time. I could write a full-blown Tolkien-length novel series about my experiences in the music industry; however, we will call all that the back story. Welcome to the beginning.

WILKES

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