Who is Waylon Wyatt? The Story Behind His Journey to Country Music
Who is Waylon Wyatt? The singer-songwriter joined us to chat about his journey to country music. Get to know the rising star here…
Waylon Wyatt
Quick Facts:
Full Name – Waylon Wyatt Potter
Birthdate – 10/16/2006
Hometown – Hackett, Arkansas
Current City – Hackett, Arkansas
Musical Influences – Tyler Childers, Chris Stapleton, Turnpike Troubadours, Waylon Jennings
Current Single – “Stranger To Me” (as of date of article 6/3/24)
The Beginning:
The country music industry is buzzing with new talent. Today, we’re spotlighting the young and promising newcomer, Waylon Wyatt. While only 17 years old, Wyatt has already proved to have star power with a sound that fans of artists like Zach Bryan and Tyler Childers will flock to.
“I started writing songs when I was six years old. I wrote this one song called, “How To Be a Man” and it sounds just like how you think a six year old would write a song,” began Wyatt. “I honestly didn’t start taking it seriously until I was about fifteen, and that’s when I started listening to Tyler Childers after seeing him on YouTube, it was “Feathered Indians” and I just fell in love with the sound, so I kind of went off of his sound.”
Despite drawing inspiration from artists like Childers and the Turnpike Troubadours, Wyatt recalls being exposed to every genre of music throughout his upbringing. “I’ve been influenced by music my whole life. My parents have always been big music fans. My mom’s big into bluegrass and metal. Our musical taste is not limited to anything even though I’m known to write mostly a folky, country sound and everything. I can listen to anything as long as it’s catchy.”
While he gravitates more towards the sounds of red dirt contemporary, the lyrics are what matters most to him. “I love the idea of writing songs and singing them on your own. It feels like a lot more emotion can be put into songs that you write yourself.”
The Turning Point:
Even though Wyatt has been writing and enjoying music since he was young, it was not until a little later on that he really started to take his talent seriously. “When I was sixteen years old I started trying to write my own songs. That’s when I came up with the idea for “Everything Under the Sun.” His single drew in many fans and followers to his social media and the song has amassed almost 7 million streams on Spotify alone.
“The very first known video proof of me actually putting music out was on TikTok, and it’s my song “Everything Under The Sun.” I had just got that song finished, and that was the very first time I had performed it all the way through, it was that TikTok,” shared the singer. Who added, “Basically that was my first video that I put out and it was all because of a friend of mine told me I should put it out because he loved it so much, and he thought other people should hear it.”
Despite some trepidation, Wyatt decided to share the song, which would go on to attract the eager ears of a record label in California. “I had just finished getting off work with my dad, and I was still wearing that hat that had the company name on it, and a record label from California reached out to me because of the phone number that was on the hat.” he shared. “They contacted my dad’s business on Facebook and that’s how we scheduled everything. We scheduled a phone call with them, and then not even a week later, their team was down here and not even two weeks later I was signed with them.”
Today:
Flash forward to today, and Wyatt’s star power is shining even brighter! While the singer still only has a few songs out, he has been teasing many songs on TikTok and social media. Including songs like, “Out of The Blue” and “Leave it Where it Lies.” The singer also shared that he wrote a song called, “Pretty Little Liar,” which he is eager to share with fans.
As of right now, Wyatt’s newest song is a track called, “Stranger To Me.” “A lot of people think it’s a love song, but it’s actually based off a friend I had that we had to go our separate ways even though I still appreciate him and love him to death. We had to go our separate ways because he fell into a bad crowd, and I didn’t want to have the guilt by association of still being affiliated with him. Now that I’m making a name for myself, I didn’t want to have that looking bad on myself, and I know it may seem a little selfish, but it’s reasonable.”
For Wyatt, the song is deeply personal. “The idea came to me because I was going through it in the moment. That’s one of the very few songs that I wrote and can actually relate to to be honest, and that song is a lot more powerful to me in a lot of ways because I relate to it.”
This is just the beginning for the newcomer, but it is safe to say that he has already garnered a loyal fanbase. Fans can catch the singer out on the road with Drayton Farley at two of his live shows, as well as in Nashville this week for a Spotify event during CMA Fest. Stay tuned for more!
Connect:
Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news and announcements about future Waylon Wyatt releases.
To keep up with Waylon Wyatt, follow him on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
Waylon Wyatt’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.