Will Wilde

Fresh off the back off supporting Eric Clapton in August! Will Wilde comes to The Robin to bring his unique blend of harmonica rich blues.

Will Wilde is a force to be reckoned with – a phenomenal harmonica player with a voice to match.

 Will’s intense harmonica style steals the spotlight from the traditional blues rock guitar, with a sound that owes as much to Gary Moore as it does to Sonny Boy Williamson.  “I’m always looking to make new sounds with the harmonica, pushing its boundaries, trying to change people’s perception of it.”  In fact Will has gone one step further and created his own signature “Wilde Tuned” harmonicas so he can play licks that weren’t possible before.  “They enable me to hold my own with any blues rock guitarist”.

 Will gained popularity on Youtube with his mind blowing harmonica covers of classic rock guitar solos, such as Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Free Bird, which racked up over four million views, and helped him gain his 100k+ subscribers.  These videos brought him to the attention of blues rock guitar legend Walter Trout, who invited him to play on his album ‘Broken’, which went to number one on the Billboard Blues Album Chart.  To return the favour, Walter played guitar on the title track and first single from Will’s new album ‘The Blues Is Still Alive’.  The album reached number one on the IBBA Chart and number five on the UK’s Official Jazz & Blues Album Chart, ” It was my great honour to be part of this music with the incredible Will Wilde. He’s the best! ” -Walter Trout

 Will picked up his first harmonica at a house party when he was sixteen.  “I basically nicked it,” he says. “It was a cheap plastic Guinness harmonica just lying around amongst the drink bottles and cigarette butts, I was drawn to it.”  From then on playing became an obsession.  “I used to play along to old Muddy Waters records for hours every day. Sometimes I played so much my lips bled,” says Wilde. “I couldn’t get enough of it.  After a while it became like an extension of me.”

 Will comes from a musical family.  “Music was always around me” he says.  “Blues, soul and classic rock were the soundtrack to my childhood.”  His father is an avid music fan, his grandfather was a wartime jazz & blues pianist and his sister, Dani Wilde, is an acclaimed blues singer and guitarist in her own right.