Webb Wilder
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| Webb Wilder | |
|---|---|
| Born | Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA |
| Alias(es) | Last of the Full Grown Men |
| Genre(s) | Blues rock Folk-Rock Rock and Roll Country Southern Rock |
| Years active | 1976 - present |
| Official site | www.webbwilder.com |
Webb Wilder is a singer/songwriter appearing sporadically in Nashville, Tennessee and the surrounding area.
Hailing from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Webb Wilder and his boyhood friend R.S. "Bobby" Field were greatly influenced by the British Invasion and by the freedom, emotion, and urgency of Soul Music. While attending college in Mississippi, they combined their affection for bands like the Faces, the Band, the Rolling Stones, Mott The Hoople, NRBQ, The Who, and Badfinger with a growing interest in early blues, country and R&B.
After moving to Austin, Texas in 1976, where they played in separate bands (Wilder in the Eveready Brothers and Field in the Howlers), they were exposed to the music and manifestos of UK rock and rollers Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds, who inspired them with songs and guitarchitecture.
Wilder's put his first band, the beatnecks, together after moving to Nashville in 1985. The band included Webb: guitar and vocals; Donnie "The Twangler" Roberts: guitar and vocals; Denny "Cletus" Blakely: bass guitar and vocals; Jimmy Lester: drums; and The Ionizer: drums, guitar, vocals. After their first album, It Came from Nashville, the band changed to just Webb Wilder, changing to Nashvagens for their album, Town & Country, before switching back to just Webb Wilder again.
The band has changed numerous times in its career and Webb and Jimmy Lester seem to be the only ones who have stayed the course since the beginning. The bands first change was after the Hybrid Vigor album when Cletus was replaced by Rich Ruth, formerly of The Rainmakers. After Doo Dad, the band made a big change losing their main guitarist, the Twangler, and Ruth. The Twangler was replaced by George "The Tone Chaperone" Bradfute and Ruth was replaced by Kelly "v.i.c." Looney. Their lineup changed again after Acres of Suede when Looney was replaced with Tom Comet. Field has produced many, if not all, of Webbs songs and albums, has cowritten with Wilder, and has appeared both on his albums and in live performances many times.
Wilder appears in several short films which have seen limited distribution, chiefly at film festivals.
He has also made a few notable music video appearances. These include Martina McBride's video for "When God-Fearin' Women Get The Blues" in early 2003, and Alan Jackson's "That'd Be Alright" video in 2002.
Wilder also worked as a DJ for XM Satellite Radio from 2002 until 2005.
His 1986 album It Came From Nashville was re-released in late 2004, and his first album of new material since 1996, About Time, was released in March 2005. A live DVD was released in November 2005 and a live CD in 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Quotes
"...Kinda like we made a car tape to listen to as we drove across America, except we sang and played all the songs." -Town & Country
"This album has two points... rock and roll and country. From a marketing point of view it was seven seconds ahead of its time!"
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard, grow big, and wear glasses if you need 'em..." -the Webb Wilder Credo
"...let your freak flag fly, keep it between the ditches, keep on rocking. Remember: real music is out there and real people are making it, never quite bald, never quite wall to wall. Your never to small to hit the big time and there's always an Econoline rolling toward a gig somewhere." -extended credo off of Town & Country.
"Trust your gut, even if it's a beer gut!"
"Always said, I've got one foot in Country and one in Rock'n'Roll, and since they're both approximately 13-A's, I'm coverin' a lot of ground."
"Hello people of the Loving public, this is Webb Wilder: 'Last of the Full Grown Men'"
"Would you want it public that your woman left you for trailer trash?"
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
It Came from Nashville (Racket Records, 1986 - re-released by Watermelon Records in 1993)
Hybrid Vigor (Island Records, 1989)
Doo Dad (Zoo/Praxis/BMG, 1991)
Town & Country (Watermelon Records, 1995)
Acres of Suede (Watermelon Records, 1996)
About Time (Landslide, 2005)
[edit] Compilations
Scattered Smothered and Covered (Varese Sarabande, 2005)
