I caught up with Jared Kolesar of Wheelwright while he’s on the road this fall, touring across the U.S. It was almost lunch time in Kansas City when he rang, and he told me that he and his foodie tourmates thoroughly scour their phones while on the road. Anyone not holding the steering wheel is phone in hand searching for the best food in town, he explained. Today’s pick: Thai Barbeque; think panang curry with burnt ends (drool).
Wheelwright’s first of a series of 3 EPs, #1, was just released Friday, November 17th, on all music platforms (link to Spotify here). The self-proclaimed Neo-Western EP is comprised of 5 songs, including a sprinkling of singles that have been released over the last year, and one new single, Out There. I asked about EPs 2 and 3, they’ll both have a different vibe and vision, exploring a variety of genres Kolesar is drawn to and wants to explore more of on his own, while focusing on the basics and experiencing deep emotion through his creative process. We talked about the inspiration for the work, what it’s been like starting over as a solo artist post Jared and the Mill, and what is driving his creativity these days. Despite the freedom he’s enjoying that comes with having complete artistic control over the music, there’s an added pressure that comes with the territory, a double-edged sword, one that comes with waves of excitement and equal waves of fear. Even still, breaking free from the crew, while maintaining a close friendship with the guys, is allowing Kolesar to navigate the artistic world in an entirely new way.
As for who is going to be in his Spotify Wrapped come the end of this year: Frank Ocean, Drake, Pinegrove, and Hermanos Gutiérrez. This brings us back to his creative inspiration and the EP we’d spoken about earlier in our chat. For this first release, he credits the rhythm, melody, phrasing, and pacing of lyrics, to The Weeknd, who he spent loads of time listening to during the making. To the untrained ear, one might not know that Three Dots was written and recorded when he was listening to 2018’s Scorpion by Drake, so much in fact that the chord structure and progressions, as well as the lyric flow, are developed directly from it.
The themes inspiring this recent creative work are similar to those that have guided Kolesar throughout his life, including finding joy in the small, everyday things, being on the road for lengthy periods of time, and the toll that can take if one isn’t careful. He’s thoughtful and reflective of being a human, having a human experience and trying to get by while being a good person, figuring out what he’s doing between life and death. What’s noteworthy is that he finds a way to romanticize the little things in life, whether in a small-town diner chatting with a stranger, or out among nature, with his own thoughts to keep him company.
With a hyperactive brain, he says it’s easy to get caged cat syndrome if he’s in any one place for too long, making life on the road feel a bit more like home than actual home might be. There’s just something about a fresh town, fresh people, the scenes, the landscapes, constantly being in a new environment and all the idiosyncrasies it brings, allowing him enough stimulus to morph into a cowboy on the dusty trail where his creative fire burns the brightest. Kolesar has tried to make life on the road more amusing, including an MVP chili award that is bestowed on a new bandmate every night after their show, confession Wednesdays, and even making time for self-care and to get exercise in. He’s proud that this is the healthiest he’s ever felt on tour.
As a fifth generation AZ native, Kolesar was raised half city boy, half rope em’ and ride em’ cowboy thanks to his maternal grandfather, something he often took for granted as a child, but now as an adult has the ability to see the patience and hard work it instilled in him when he was young. He’s recently begun a creative cowboy endeavor into whimsical and kitschy bolo ties. One he’s super proud of is a single use ketchup packet bolo tie that he made for Sydney Sprague, who he’s currently touring alongside. If you’re interested, these little one-of-a-kind treasures can be found at his merch table where available.
Wheelwright is on tour now, all dates/locations and tickets can be found here:
He’ll wrap up before the holidays with a hometown show in Phoenix at The Rebel Lounge on December 15th.
Nov 21 St Louis, MO, US
Blueberry Hill Duck Room
Nov 22 Nashville, TN, US
The End
Nov 26 Toronto, ON, Canada
Drake Hotel Underground
Nov 27 Pittsburgh, PA, US
Club Café
Dec 1 New York (NYC), NY, US
Mercury Lounge
Dec 2 Washington, DC, US
Songbyrd
Dec 3 Carrboro, NC, US
Cat's Cradle Back Room
Dec 5 Orlando, FL, US
Will's Pub - Fyf
Dec 6 Atlanta, GA, US
The Masquerade - Purgatory
Dec 9 Austin, TX, US
Mohawk - Indoor
Dec 15 Phoenix, AZ, US
The Rebel Lounge
Comments