Tommy Wheatley

Tommy Wheatley is a singer-songwriter from the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. His songwriting and playing style is heavily influenced by his Appalachian roots, as well as his favorite artists (Tyler Childers, Mississippi John Hurt) Steve Earl, Ryan Bingham) and he plays a wide variety of Americana, folk, blues, red dirt & country originals and covers. Tommy had always been a creative that is passionate, or nearly obsessed with story telling. From a very early age, he, his older brother and some friends would make a short films on their home vhs camera. These short films ranged from westerns, world war 2 movies, mob movies, etc. These are some of Tommy’s earliest memories of creating and crafting a story, and the limitless possibilities that went along with that. This creative spirit first encountered music shortly after highschool when Tommy was working at a 300 acre farm in rural (very very rural) Virginia, and he bought his first banjo. Tommy had fallen in love with the Appalachian culture and beauty at this point, and was constantly around high level bluegrass/ old tyme musicians near Floyd, Virginia, so he finally decided he wanted in on the action. Shortly after purchasing the banjo, he learned old traditional tunes & ballads, and began writing his own. He spent countless nights on the front porch of an old farmhouse, where he was living at the time, starting at the stars, singing lonesome mountain tunes. After a while he decided he should also learn guitar, and that’s really when his playing and writing took off. Tommy moved to Tennessee to pursue better farm work opportunities. It was perfect timing however, as his playing, singing and catalog of original songs was growing, so he took advantage of the Nashville music scene and began playing live gigs in and around Nashville, Franklin, Columbia and more. Tommy focuses on meaningful, authentic lyrics. The authenticity comes through, largely because of how his songs were crafted; on the front porch of a desolate farm house in Virginia, or in a camper in the green pastures of Tennessee, he writes from the soul, and audiences feel that with every song.