About: Past & Present
“That sounds like mosquito music…”
My mom’s description of the sounds of bottleneck slide guitar coming from my bedroom as a kid is as fitting now as it was then. The southeastern US has been my home for over 40 years and its sounds and feelings permeate everything about my music, for better and worse. The swirling mixture of mosquitos, cicadas, crazy air pressure and thick humidity that fills the beautiful forests, pastures, swamps and beaches, creates a visceral vibe that is my sound. Even when I try to play other stuff, it still sounds humid lolz! I love The South, its sounds and culture, and I’m proud and so glad that it reflects back through my playing. I always loved slide guitar as a kid, and as an adult, I’ve fallen in love with the dobro and pedal steel which have become full-time hobbies, so my music now sounds more “buzzy” than ever.
Click photo for Bio, Credits & Booking
Music has been my refuge and happy place for as long as I can remember. Even before I started playing, some of my fondest memories are of the house being full of the sounds of my dad’s record collection and my mom and uncles playing folk and blues on acoustic guitars. For whatever reasons, music became as important as language to me and inseparable from how I approach and interact with the world around me. It’s been this way since I was a kid, and to this day music provides a way to communicate certain feelings and ideas that I can’t express through the spoken or written word.
I’m fortunate to have learned from some amazing people and enjoy sharing these sounds and ideas with collaborators and students. Music has been a lifelong joyful pastime and also a vocation: making my own music, freelancing for others as a sideman and producer and passing on what I’ve learned as a music teacher and consultant. I’m grateful for a journey that’s been filled with great friends, adventures and lots of artistic growth and progress that is ongoing today, and I’m excited about what’s around the bend. Please message me to schedule a performance, recording or lesson, and I hope to see you soon out on the road!
Peace, Love & Grooves,
-WB 7/22/22
“This sounds like chitlin rock.”
-Bobby Sparks
