Full name – Jack Wharff, Garrett Howell, Ryan Barrett Atchison, Evan Novoa
Band Formed In – Richmond, Virginia
Current city – Nashville, Tennessee
Musical influences – Tyler Childers, Billy Strings, Doc Watson, Tony Rice, Willie Nelson

Label – Big Machine Records

Current Project – Richmond’s Most Wanted EP (as of date of article: 7/7/2025)

Every once in a while, country music and its fans get blessed with a new country group to fall in love with. Today is one of those moments! The Jack Wharff band are truly ones to look out. They are carving their own path, creating a sound that is uniquely their own, a blending of of country, rock, and bluegrass sounds. We chatted with the four band members, frontman and lead singer Jack Wharff, drummer Garrett Howell, bassist Ryan Barrett Atchison, and guitarist Evan Novoa all about their rise to stardom, their journey so far, and everything in between. Keep reading to learn more!

The Virginia natives all grew up with music in their hearts from an early age. Lead singer, Wharff shared, “I grew up listening to bluegrass. I’ve always been involved in music because my dad plays in a band to this day, and before I was even a thought, he was playing in music with his band. I grew up going to his shows on the weekend with my mom, so it kind of all started out with bluegrass for me and it molded into what we are today,” while his other band members echoed his statements. “I really fell in love with country music and bluegrass, when I was in middle school, I fell in love with more of the outlaw country when I was in high-school,” shared Atchison.

For the group, music was alway something that felt viscerally important. “I love blues a lot too. That’s something our band has too, we call it American music because it’s such an array of different things that we love and stuff,” shared Novoa.

The Turning Point:

Despite all growing up in different parts of Virginia, the band didn’t meet until 2023, when they crossed paths at an open mic night in Richmond, Virginia. “I was trying to get my sound out there and Ryan and Garrett were trying to get their sound out there, and they sounded really good on stage, and I was playing after them, so I asked them if they wanted to play with me, and they were all for it,” shared Wharff. “We kept going around the area, trying to get gigs and playing them together. We never really looked back, and we started writing together too.”

“At the open mic where he met Ryan and I, Jack had two original songs that neither one of us have ever heard before, and he was like “you guys want to come play.” So we just turned around and got right back on, and I think my wife has a video of us playing, and you can hear one of my buddies in the background just screaming, but it was songs that Ryan and I have never heard before or played, so the chemistry was always there from us three, and then Evan came in, and it was just the perfect fit,” added Howell.

The coveted day at the open mic night formed the first iteration of The Jack Wharff Band. Eventually they caught the attention  of an A&R guy from Big Machine Label Group, and eventually made the big decision to move to Nashville.

 “LJ came down to Virginia after hearing about us from TikTok, and seeing one of our songs called “Burnin’ It Down” do very well, so we went out, and had lunch with him, and they have been super head over heels excited about what we’re doing, and putting a lot of energy and time into us, and they really believe in what we’re doing,” shared The Jack Wharff Band. “That’s what we made the decision to go with Big Machine because the people there are great and they’ve been super willing to let us move creatively, while also guiding us with their wisdom of how it all works.”

Eventually, the group added their guitarist to the mix too. “We found Evan, and we were completely blown away, and we wanted to take him on tour with us, we really fell in love with him, the person that he is firstly and how amazing he is at guitar. We had to have him.”

Today:

Flash forward to today, The Jack Wharff Band recently made their major-label debut with their EP, Richmond’s Most Wanted. The project is an incredible sampler of what’s to come blended with their fan-favorite songs.

“As far as choosing the songs for the project, Jack hit the nail on the head one time when he said that this is Richmond’s most wanted songs, and putting all of these songs on the EP is kind of the nostalgia of the old school Jack Wharff Band songs, where it just speaks to this array of where it started, and where it is now. I like to say it’s a warm welcome to who we are and who we were as well, it kinda just combines everything,” shared Novoa.

Songs like “Washed” remain one one of the bands’ favorite songs, while the new songs introduce fans to what’s to come for The Jack Wharff Band. “The two new ones on there, “Don’t Hold Your Breath” and “Otherwise,” we worked on, probably late last year, those were two songs that we felt were really strong and bring a different element to what we had before, it allows for a different feel than what we had before.”

Looking ahead to the future, The Jack Wharff Band stand firm that this is only just the beginning. We have hundreds of songs that we’re sitting on right now. We’re so excited to get all of these songs and all of these tunes and all of these ideas in our head, out to the world and our fans,” shared the artists. “We have so many cool ideas for shows to make them more enjoyable and more energetic than they are right now […]. We’re so excited to get out there and make better music and better shows for the people out there who are following along with us. […] We have a lot of cool and fresh sounds coming for all of you guys.”

Stay tuned!

Connect:

To keep up with The Jack Wharff Band, follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

The Jack Wharff Band’s music is available everywhere you buy or stream music. Take a listen below and check out more new recently released tunes on our ‘New Country Music’ playlist. Be sure to give the playlist a follow for your weekly new country music fix.