Who is Anne Wilson? The Story Behind Her Journey to Country Music
Who is Anne Wilson? The singer-songwriter joined us to chat about her journey to country music. Get to know the rising star here…
Quick Facts:
Full Name – Anne Wilson
Birthdate – 2/21/2002
Hometown – Lexington, Kentucky
Current City – Nashville, Tennessee
Musical Influences – Morgan Wallen, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash
Label – Capitol Christian Music Group / UMG Nashville
Current Single – “Rain in the Rearview” (Impacting country radio) // as of date of article: 10/2/23
The Beginning:
Today’s spotlight shines on an artist that is seemingly an incredible human and artist. Anne Wilson may be best known for her Christian music; however, she is blazing her own path, adding country music to her impressive repertoire. Anyone who appreciates an artist who is unapologetically themselves no matter what genre they are slated in will fall in love with Wilson.
The singer-songwriter hails from Lexington, Kentucky. “I grew up going to my family’s farm on the weekends. We have 700 acres in Kentucky, it’s absolutely beautiful. I’m so grateful and blessed to have that land,” she began. “I have two siblings, my brother Jacob and my sister, Elizabeth. We grew up as a really tight-knit family, always together.”
Wilson credits her family for introducing her to a wide variety of music at an early age. “I had actually been listening to quite a bit of music growing up. My parents would always play Christian radio and my brother would always play country music in the car. I felt like I got a really big dose of both of those genres. My brother would also play classic rock, and super old country songs, so that was always something that I loved,” she shared.
Despite being a music fan and playing classical piano for her entire childhood, at her mother’s request, Wilson never dreamed of being an artist. “I took piano lessons from six years old until graduating high school, like classical piano, and that was pretty much all the music I had. I didn’t do any other instruments. I didn’t sing in the choir. I didn’t sing in the car. I didn’t sing in the church. I really didn’t sing anywhere,” Wilson said.
Instead, Wilson focused on her dream of becoming an astronaut, finding herself more attracted to science and math. However, at age fifteen, when tragedy struck her family, her life and its path flipped on its axis.
The Turning Point:
The summer before her sophomore year of high school, Wilson learned that her older brother was killed in a tragic car accident. In order to cope with the tremendous loss, the songstress found comfort in the piano.
“I was singing at the piano one day, just a couple of days after he passed away, and I was really just worshiping God and having a moment to myself. I was processing all those things that had happened with my brother and my mom overheard me singing, and she came into the room, and said, “Anne I had no clue you could sing,” she shared. Adding, “I was super embarrassed and frustrated [at the time], but she asked me to sing at the funeral for my brother, because we couldn’t find anyone to sing, and I just decided to do it. I couldn’t help but do it, I wanted to honor my brother in that way, I sang publicly for the first time ever at my brother’s funeral.”
From that point on, Wilson started to fall in love with music and singing. “This whole thing kind of came out of nowhere for me, which makes it really cool,” she shared. “It started in 2017. Six months after my brother passed away, I got a call from a manager in Nashville. […] They had heard my voice because I posted one video of me singing on Youtube, and it went viral.”
After working with her manager for four years, Wilson was ready to introduce herself to the world through music. “In 2021, I released my very first single to Christian Radio. It was called, “My Jesus.” I was not expecting a thing out of it, I thought maybe it would land on the radio somewhere, and within 24 hours, it had nine million views on Facebook, and was just a viral song over night,” she shared. Adding, “My career took off immediately. I was nineteen at a time, and just moved out to Nashville the year prior all by myself. My life just changed over night.”
God moment after God moment, doors continued to open for Wilson. At the top of 2023, Wilson got a call from the head of UMG Nashville, who pitched her a joint record deal with her current label. “She wanted to work with me and do a co-record deal with my current record label. They said, “we want to take Anne to country radio, and we don’t want to change who she is. We don’t want her to do anything different. We just want her to put a song to country radio and give Anne an opportunity to really broaden her horizon and her audience.” That led into me writing songs and really figuring out if it was something I wanted to do and what I was passionate about, and it was such an immediate yes.”
Today:
Flash forward to today, Wilson is a duel artist, creating music that appeals to her Christian and country fanbase. With a record completed and finished, and coming out sooner rather than later, the songstress is showcasing how she has evolved as an artist over the years.
“I wrote the entire record in two months. […] All of the record was really birthed out of the place of being a “rebel,” which is the title to the record,” she shared. “To me [my music is] more of an extension of who I am as an artist, and now being 21 writing this record, it’s just a different chapter of who I am as an artist.”
Wilson doubles down adding that it is important for her to remain true to herself. “I’m not going to water down my message for country radio, and I’m not going to water down my country production for Christian radio, but I’m going to be authentically who I am as an artist.”
Wilson just released three brand new songs under the title, REBEL (The Beginning), including, “REBEL,” “Strong,” and “Rain in the Rearview.” The latter is the first song to go to country radio, while “Strong” will head to Christian radio later next month. “Every single song was written with rebel in mind for the record,” she shared. “What does it mean to be a rebel in today’s day and age? And it means to not back down from your faith, to be a leader, to not follow the crowds, to do your own thing, and to be who you are.”
Fans can anticipate more new music coming down the pipeline from Wilson. For now, she is embarking on her first headlining tour. Find tickets here.
Connect:
Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news and announcements about future Anne Wilson releases.
To keep up with Anne Wilson follow her on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and X / Twitter.
Anne Wilson’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.
