Before he started writing country songs professionally, Stephen Wilson Jr. had to live one. Raised by a single dad in rural Indiana, he took up Golden Gloves boxing as a child to squash his stage fright. As an adult, he left his first band and accepted a position as an R&D scientist at the candy company Mars Inc. There, Wilson worked his way up the corporate ladder. In 2016, he left it all behind in 2016 to write songs for Big Loud. Releasing his 2023 debut album, Søn of Dad, to much acclaim, he has watched his star steadily climb in Nashville. Currently, Stephen Wilson Jr. is among several artists opening for Eric Church on the latter’s Free the Machine tour. On Saturday (Feb. 27) night, the pair joined forces onstage in Texas to honor country music’s past while shining a bright light on its future.
Videos by American Songwriter
After opening the show at Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena, Wilson rejoined Church onstage. First, they performed a duet of “Desperados Waiting For A Train.” Written by Guy Clark and originally recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker, supergroup the Highwaymen took it to No. 15 on the Hot Country Singles chart in 1985. Other artists who have officially recorded the song include David Allan Coe and Rita Coolidge—and soon, we hope, Eric Church and Stephen Wilson Jr…