Stephen Wilson Jr.

Stephen Wilson Jr. opens every performance the exact same way: “I’m Stephen Wilson Jr. I am my father’s son.” Wilson’s entire being is defined by those words. Like his father before him, he is a boxer and learned discipline and self-esteem in the ring beginning at age 5. He has the same eyes as his dad, too. And, most importantly, he has his name. 

Since September 15, 2018—the day his father died after a brief illness at 59—Wilson’s been in the fight of his life, battling grief and uncertainty to figure out how to carry on without his hero. It’s a bout tougher than any Wilson faced when competing in the Golden Gloves championships in his native Indiana, but it’s one he’s winning. The proof is in Son of Dad, his triumphant 22-song debut album on Big Loud Records. It is an album that’s impossible to pigeon-hole: It is country, it is rock, it is grunge, and it’s among the most unique records to come out of Nashville in a decade. 

With songs like “Grief Is Only Love,” “Hang in There,” and the autobiographical centerpiece “Father’s Son,” Son of Dad is a testament to the life of Stephen Wilson Sr., who raised two sons and a daughter as a single father and auto-body mechanic. But while so much of the album is pulled from Wilson Jr.’s own experiences, it has universal appeal to anyone who has lost someone they love. His hope for Son of Dad is that listeners find an outlet for their own grief and remember to live not only for those who are gone, but for themselves.