Бывший ученый и боксер Стивен Уилсон выпустил новый альбом о жизни рабочего класса после смерти отца

Former scientist and boxer Stephen Wilson Jr. found alt-country sound after the passing of his father Stephen Wilson Jr. was once a scientist and a boxer, but the passing of his father became the catalyst for his breakout record “Son of Dad.” Although he never expected to make another album, his observations of blue collar America led to his next unannounced project. Hearing distinct, distorted guitars and Wilson’s tenacious, grit-filled voice over a track that rides the overlap between country and alt-rock, can make it easy to assume he is a musical veteran with decades under his belt. But it was pain that brought the 46-year-old to unleash his voice. Wilson was raised by a single father in Seymour, Indiana, the same hometown as heartland rocker John Mellencamp. He was raised as a boxer and influenced by the Seattle sound, bands like Soundgarden and Nirvana, before earning his degree and working as a microbiologist and food scientist. A natural observer, Wilson was a perfect fit for the job, but many of those same skills made songwriting impossible to ignore – especially upon the passing of the man who raised him, the man whose name he shared. “What they don’t tell you about a critical loss like that, is that you die with them,” Wilson said. “Everything you were and thought you were. And with that death comes kind of a rebirth of who you are, because you’re now living this new life, this new identity without this person.” Wilson took his lamentation and the belief his father always held, that of a cornerman standing in unshaken belief until the last bell finally rings, to create his debut album, “Son of Dad.” Wilson had worked as a staff writer creating for others, never expecting his own voice to amplify his words, but since the 2023 release, his world has been turned upside down. Tracks of emotional imagery, such as “I’m A Song,” “Grief is Only Love” and “Year to Be Young 1994,” have connected with the masses while his raw vocals have brought a new sense of depth to variations of “The Star Spangled Banner” and Ben E. King’s classic, “Stand By Me.” Wilson’s music has taken him far beyond his humble Indiana beginnings and Tennessee home with Northern Quest Resort and Casino next on the list Friday night. “It’s been a whirlwind,” Wilson said. “I honestly didn’t expect any of this to happen … I’ve said this before, but my dreams outdreamt me a long time ago, because all I really wanted to be was a songwriter.” Wilson’s elements of vast echoes, steady backbeats and guitars compared to that of a “mad scientist” by collaborator Dierks Bentley in a recent interview compose his clear-cut sound. Wilson began to learn the guitar as a late teen, long before he ever sang, resulting in struggles with the instrument “getting in the way” of his lyrics. After a boat-trailer accident severed two tendons in his left hand, Wilson didn’t touch the guitar for the better part of a year, meaning his lyrics had to take the forefront. He was then able to find the root meanings of what he was trying to convey. This also meant Wilson had to “relearn” the guitar, but he did so very intentionally. Partially due years of listening to the abnormal tunings and phrases of Soundgarden, he experimented with Drop C and Drop D tuning instead of the E-standard while also creating his own. Now, his unique guitar choices act as an intentional character in the stories he wishes to tell. “Those tunings helped me unlearn guitar,” Wilson said. “I didn’t know what I was doing with those tunings, and that was the point … that’s when I started writing songs that felt more like what I was trying to get to.” Although Wilson’s sound he self-describes as “Death Cab for Country” doesn’t fit the mold, his lyricism stays true to that of country or Americana, often consisting of narratives that use imagery to create a world of their own yet all too familiar. His latest singles may be the clearest examples yet. “Gary” tells the story of a dying breed, the blue-collar American “working on the same car, going on a decade,” while “Preacher’s Kid” recites the story of those who abuse their power in the church while not giving “a damn about you or Jesus.” “It’s very much getting into modern observations, I’m a scientist still and I can’t help it,” Wilson said. “My job as a storyteller is to reflect reality … my favorite storytellers took their own experiences and expanded fiction, it’s kind of life non-fiction based fiction.” Wilson never expected “Son of Dad” to change the course of his life or for any other projects to even be desired by himself or the public, but songs like “Gary” have proved he has many more tales to tell. Although his upcoming album remains unannounced for the time being, a new rock-oriented single called “Hardwired,” featuring country star Miranda Lambert, will be out at the end of the month. He may be living in a world brand new to him, but for the time being, Wilson will continue to forge his own path – wherever it may take him. “Boxing has been one of the best tools to prepare me for this, because it’s something that you process after the fight is over, and I’m still very much still in the early rounds,” Wilson said. “One day I’ll sit back and figure out what the hell just happened.”