Wyatt Flores

One Liner: The Zach Bryan tree has many branches, but this guy is excellent

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but I'll say Country, Americana, Folk
Home: Nashville (via Stillwater, Oklahoma)

Sunday

Thoughts:  This guy is great.  His photo on Spotify makes him look like a 14 year old who currently plays safety on JV football for the Eldorado Eagles or something, but he sounds like a road-tested vet with a fun band.  He's in that same vein of the Tyler Childers and Zach Bryan path that has been blazed in the last few years, a guy writing good songs and blasting them out over minimal accompaniment.  But he sounds like he might actually have a producer back there helping him out, unlike the ZB path of releasing everything that he's thought of instantly.  But he's only 22, so lots to learn and do before he gets locked into any one pattern.

His first single on Spotify is 2021's "Travelin' kid," so he hasn't been at it terribly long.  According to at least one bio, that song arose from stories his dad told him about being the drummer in a Red Dirt country band.  I haven't been able to figure out what band though.  He grew up in Stillwater, home of Okie State, and also the home of Garth Brooks and Cross Canadian Ragweed.  So, he appears to come by a country-style honestly.

His top tune, by a mile, is a 2022 single called "Please Don't Go," with 67.3 million streams.

The start is so basic, but even when the band comes in, they keep it really clean.  Focus stays on his voice and the lyrics.  After that one, he released some other singles, but only one album to his credit so far - 2023's Life Lessons.  The top track from that disc is "Holes" with 3.2 million streams.

Starts out like a Lord Huron song.  Lovely stuff.  Like, really a beautiful song.  A lot of road-weary songs on that album - you can tell that he is writing about the experience of touring and coming up.  "Wildcat" is a freaking phenomenal song.  It has no streams, and yet it made me laugh out loud when I just now first heard it.  Funny stuff and definitely fun attitude.  "Break My Bones" cracks me up because it sounds like a kid's first attempt at a rock song, where that kid was raised on Creed and Nickelback.  RIFFAGE!  "Way Back Home" makes me think of the Garth song "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)"  "Write in Stone" has some great banjo-laced lamentations.  I'm going to provide you with one more song, because it keeps popping back up in my head - "West of Tulsa" with 1.6 million streams - and you get a real video!

Rock and roll intro, a little more of the "I'm on the road and it's hard" stuff, but I really think the chorus is good stuff.  "Makes me wanna be somebody to somebody else" is a solid line.  I can absolutely hear the crowd ROARING along to "or maybe she's just here because I sang some fuckin' song."  And then those soaring "oh oh oh" bits at the end will be something huge too.  I really enjoy that one.

This is a good artist.  I'm excited to turn some people on to this one.