Stephen Wilson Jr. Inks With Big Loud, Releases Debut EP ‘Bon Aqua’

Stephen Wilson Jr. Signs with Big Loud Records, ALJ Management and Range Media Partners. Photo: Brayln Kelly

Stephen Wilson Jr. has signed a label deal with Big Loud Records, and with Alicia Jones at ALJ Management and Jordy Dettmer at Range Media Partners for management representation.

Wilson Jr. has also released his debut EP Bon Aqua. The seven-song collection features six previously-released songs and one new track, “American Gothic,” and was named in-part for the Tennessee town where he penned most of the project.

“Bon Aqua: Good water. Everything starts with good water,” says Wilson Jr. “We are made of mostly water. The world is mostly water. As a microbiologist, I used to test water for pharmaceutical companies and everything from shampoo to aspirin to pet food to anything you can think of requires water. Not just any water… good water. I was in charge of making sure the water was good. In and around Bon Aqua, Tennessee is coincidentally where I wrote and conceived most of this EP and filmed most of the videos and visual aspects. Hence the name, it is known for its good water and it only made sense for it to all start there.”

Wilson Jr. co-wrote “American Gothic” on the new EP with Hailey Whitters, who appears on the song. “Fellow cornfield kid, Hailey Whitters and I met some years ago writing songs and she had this beautiful idea inspired by her favorite Grant Wood painting to showcase parts of the American cultural fabric using nostalgia and the same duality that the painting seems to represent. We ran with it and sang it from the top of our lungs,” he explains.

Photo: Courtesy of Big Loud Records

“The first time I heard Stephen Wilson Jr. was at The Basement a few years back and he absolutely blew me away…. his writing, his songs and his live show is next level,” adds Whitters. “He’s one of a kind and this genre is so much for the better with him in it.”

Self-described as “Death Cab For Country,” Wilson Jr. draws upon indie rock, grunge and country to create a unique sound influenced by artists as diverse as The National, Willie Nelson, and Nirvana. His songs have been recorded by Caitlyn Smith, Brothers Osborne, Old Dominion, Tim McGraw, MacKenzie Porter, Sixpence None the Richer and Leigh Nash.

He is currently on the road supporting Whitters and will hit the road with The Lone Bellow next month before performing at the Bourbon & Beyond Festival and CMA Fest later this year.