Music-News recently had the chance to sit down with super talented rock singer/songwriter Wes Dean to discuss his catchy debut single 'Movin' On.' We also learned about his childhood, musical influences, and more. Check it out below!
Tell us about Wes Dean!
I was born and raised, in a family of five, in Virginia, and have lived here most of my life with a few years in Los Angeles, California and ten years in Maryland. My mom played the piano her entire life. Her brother played the piano and organs in local bands. Mom signed me up for piano lessons when I was 6. I played the trumpet, French horn and flugelhorn in the high school band. I bought my first guitar my first year of college and have had one or more ever since.
Music brings me joy. When not working at my day job, most of the time, I am either playing or listening to music. My musical tastes include classic rock, rock, pop, blues, electronic dance music, and Pitbull, whom I call a party in a can. My wife and I love to go to concerts, sometimes 10 in a year. Until the release of Movin’ On, all my playing occurred inside my house. At the end of a workday, I love just strumming chords or finding fun transitions between chords or strumming patterns.
Who are some of your musical influences? What else inspires you?
Musical influences include the great classic bands, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Rod Stewart, Crosby, Stills and Nash, the Eagles, John Mayall, Bob Seger and more.
Modern influences include John Mayer, One Republic, Kid Rock, Steven Tyler, Eric Clapton and Beth Hart.
Besides music, I love stories of how people persevere in life and overcome day-to-day problems, sometimes to achieve greatness and sometimes just to build a decent life for themselves and their families. Being in the mountains, East Coast, West Coast or abroad makes me feel awe and inspiration. My wife Pam inspires me every day by her beauty and the love that she exudes every day.
Congrats on the release of “Movin' On”! We love it. What’s the story behind the song?
When I write a song, I either strum chords until I get a feeling or an image in my head, but in this case, I started strumming and playing about my life, and the life of many starting with getting out of bed and not wanting to go to work. From that I thought about how someone would feel when left by their partner. Then I kept adding verses and the ending about not living our lives in fear came to me. For me writing a song feels like I am discovering the song, not actually writing it. The lyrics come to me so clearly sometimes it seems like I have heard them before.
After I wrote it I had a feeling that this song was different and that I should do something to get the song recorded. I went to Cue Recording, where I sang the vocals and played the initial guitar tracks for Movin’ On. After that, the incredible studio artists added guitar from Buddy Sheir, drums from Tyler Schafer, and bass from Holly Montgomery. The is Movin’ On, and I hope that people will be inspired to “not be afraid to live their lives.”
Who is one artist/band that you would love to tour with?
{laughs}. It would be an honor to tour with any of the bands that I love. The first one that comes to mind is Kid Rock, because he is plain-spoken and he puts on an upbeat concert that makes people happy.
What’s next for your music career?
The first thing is to record more songs that I have already written. After that, I might tour or just continue to write and record, I’m not sure. I am excited about the future but living one day at a time.
What's your favorite thing to do when you're not doing music?
I have a day job, so my favorite thing to do when not working is music.
How can our readers find you online?
I’m on Facebook, Spotify, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and a website is coming soon...
