Zach Willdee

218 North 1st Street,Pulaski TN 38478

15 April, 2023

Description

Outlaw Country singer Zach Willdee combines energetic performances with his raw talent to bear a voice bigger than his body and stories older than his boots. Growing up in Massachusetts, writing beneath the shade of the New England pines, Zach Willdee began his musical career busking on the street corners of Provincetown, Massachusetts at 14 years old. By age 16, he earned the name “The Barefoot Brother.” Lifeguarding on the Atlantic coast during the day and street performing at night he reflects, “They called me that because I didn’t wear any shoes when I performed on the tarmac. They thought it was the funniest thing that this barefoot lifeguard was playing music.” It wasn’t long before Willdee moved from playing on the tarmac to playing local bars, with lines of people wrapping around the block, waiting to get in. But long before that, Willdee would attend the annual Grey Fox and Joe Val Bluegrass Festivals in New England with his father. He fondly remembers jumping in on a picking circle at age 12, and then realizing he was playing with the Steel Drivers and Chris Stapelton. “They were all so welcoming it really sparked something in me and spurred me on,” Willdee laughs. Inspired by writers like Steve Earle, John Prine, and Merle Haggard, he began writing his own songs at the age of 16. Willdee later apprenticed under Darrell Scott (songwriter for The Dixie Chicks, Travis Tritt, Beyoncé, Zac Brown Band, and others) in 2016, which ultimately sparked him to move to Nashville to pursue his own career singing and writing country music. The multi-talented musician plays guitar, mandolin, bass, and harmonica -- and can often be found playing the iconic American Legion Post 82 or Dee’s Country Lounge in Nashville.