Submitted to Cashbox Canada
At age 20, Wes has amassed as many accolades as artists twice his age, having won numerous international music awards and gaining tens of millions of media impressions across TV, radio, and online.
Catching up with Wes at his home in Toronto, he shows he has what it takes to make it in this business. True values for a young man and has old soul insight into life.
“I grew up on classic rock and and folk/country music. I loved the lyrics of Garth Brooks, lyrics are what gets to me. I also listened guitar songs like ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, Harrison really knew how to make a guitar tell a story. I grew up on The Doors, The Beatles, The Who so I was surrounded by classic rock, hip hop and R&B. I think it has influenced my sound but I took it and made it my own.”
When asked where and when the musical influences started Wes said, “I took piano first when I was 5 years old, wrote my first song at 6, then took up guitar at the age of ten. No one was really musical, except my Granddad was an organist and pianist in the church and my Dad was in the choir. My Mom is a visual artist so I think I got the best parts of my parents insofar as creative influences were concerned.”
His fresh RnB-infused pop - which echoes such diverse influences as Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, and The Beatles - is at once engaging, intelligent, and fun. Wes is a rare breed of artist that will inspire legions of super-fans for years to come, and initiate a true movement.