BiB: Wesko – From Blue Collar to Breakout Star: The TikTok Gamble That Launched His Career

0:00 What is going on? It is Adam. Welcome back to Bringing It Backwards, a podcast where both legendary and rising artists tell their own personal stories of how they achieve stardom. On this episode, we had a chance to hang out with Wesko over Zoom Video. Wesko was born and raised in North Carolina, small town in eastern North Carolina. And he really didn't get into music as far as playing or writing goes until much later. Until he was 19 years old. He grew up listening to a lot of music, a lot of 90s and a of lot lot of grunge in early country. But it wasn't until he was 19 years old that he decided he wanted to start to try to learn how to play music and write songs. He said he had a lot going on. He was going to use it as. A way to kind of deal with. What was going on at that time. So he started watching YouTube videos, learned guitar, and after about a year he started to write his own songs. Wesko talks about how he got discovered, getting signed to Warner Records, some viral moments he's had on Tik Tok. And we hear all about the first EP he released called Lost Boys. And Wesko really dives into this new ep.

1:03 Hold on. You can watch the interview with Wesko and myself on our Facebook page and YouTube channel at bringing it backwards. It'd be amazing if you subscribe to our channel like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram X and Tick Tock at Bringing back pod. And if you're listening to this on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Podcast, please rate and review the podcast. It really helps us out a lot. We'd appreciate your support if you follow and subscribe to our podcasts. Wherever you listen to podcasts, we're bringing. It backwards with Wesko. Bringing it backwards.

1:44 Bringing it backwards. Bringing it backwards. Bringing it backwards. Bringing it backwards. Bringing it backwards. What's going on? Hey, what's up, man? How are you? Pretty good, pretty good. I appreciate you doing this. Thank you so much. Of course, man. Of course I appreciate you having me on. Of course. I'm Adam and this is about you and your journey in music and we'll talk about the EP as well. They have coming up. Sounds good, man. Awesome. I always kind of start with your origin story a bit like, born and raised North Carolina. Is that what I saw? Yep. Born and raised, eastern North Carolina, small town of like 600 people, so. Oh my gosh. Yeah, man. About as small as you can get. So was your school like, I don't know, like, what was your graduating class? I'm just curious. 600 people is half the people that graduated from my. My senior class of high school.

2:43 My, my high school is actually like, it was the main feeder school for, you know, four of the towns in the county. So my graduation class was, you know, maybe 200, a thousand people in the school in total. Okay. Oh, yeah, but it was four. Four counties all fit into one school. It wasn't like. Yeah, yeah, four towns. You're, you're, you're. One town wasn't at one school. It's like you have four towns all in one school. That's wild. Absolutely. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Do you come from, like, a creative household or musical family at all? Absolutely not, man. I'm the only one in my family that does music. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. So I would, I would say it's lonely, but it's not really. You know, my whole family supports me, even though, you know, they're not the most. They don't understand it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's cool. Well, like, like how do you get into music? Or is it something that you've always fell in love with? Did you grow up listening to music? Like, how did it kind of spill over into this? So growing up, my mom and my dad were both products of the grunge era, so, you know, music was very central to them. And growing up in the early 2000s, it's what me and my mom would do on the long drives to, you know, she would take me to school, she would take me to see my dad. He was, he's a gang warden, so he was.

4:05 His, his patrol areas were like, all over the state. So we would see him, you know, a lot of the times, and we would always listen to music. And, you know, it could go from Pearl Jam to Green Day, right on to George Strait, you know, in the earlier church stuff. So I was all over the place, you know, raised to love music. And I was 19, working a blue collar job straight out of high school, traveling all over the state for this job and in college. So I had a lot going on, a lot to process. So one day I just decided to pick up a guitar and, you know, just watch some YouTube guitar lessons.

4:49 And at 19. So you're 19 years old, you haven't played, like, music? Yeah, this is all, like, very recent then. Ish. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Never played any instrument, never sang a note, never wrote a song, and just decided one day that that was what I wanted to do. So I picked it up, played for about a. Played for about a year, and Then started writing my own songs. Oh, my. So you. So you got. Okay, do you remember, like, was there something that kind of sparked you to be like, I want to pick up a guitar, or just. There was just so much going on that you're like, maybe this would be a good outlet. It was that, really, honestly, it was basically just my therapy for myself, you know, because, I mean, at 19, you know, I was working 40 hours a week and still commuting to college.

5:38 And, you know, I. I was overloaded with a lot of stress, and I had a lot of things I needed to get out, but I had to have, like, a good creative outlet to get things, you know, off of my chest that all my work buddies wouldn't make fun of me for. So. Songwriting. Yeah. So writing your own songs, that's being. That's vulnerable enough to where they might make fun of you, too, though, right? Yeah. Yeah. But if you're right, if you write. Good songs, then, okay, it's true. Oh, wow. Okay. So 19, and you said it took you about a year to start writing your own songs. You're just, what? Yeah, get off work or get off school, and you just go home and watch YouTube and try to learn how to play? Yeah, I would basically just get off work, you know, covered in dust and dirt. I'd grab my guitar and go out to. You know, I was living with my parents at the time. For the small amount of time I was home every week, I'd grab my guitar and go sit out in the building where nobody could hear me, you know, so. And I would just pick a song, just a random song that I'd heard on the radio, and I'd sit there and I'd try to learn it. And that was basically.

6:48 That was it. And, you know, listening to all those country guys, that really got me started writing. You know, I was able to take some inspiration from some of my favorite artists and start writing my own stuff. And what was that like? Like, once you write your own, you. Okay, a year into this, you're 20ish, and you're like, I'm gonna write. Write a song. And do you. Is the. Are the first ones good enough to be like, I'm gonna show people? Or like, how do you then, you know, get the courage to. What, did you put it online? Are you going the TikTok route? Like, how do you start letting people know or showing people your music? Yeah, so I didn't show anybody my songs for at least a year.

7:30 So, you know, in my notes there. There are songs back from like 2020 that I refuse to show people because they are like hot garbage. That's okay. Sure. I was 21. My parents took me to Nashville for my 21st birthday, as, you know, weird as that sounds. And me and my dad were bar hopping down Broadway, and somehow or another I got caught up on stage to sing a song at a big machine right off Broadway here and got up there and, you know, people came down. You know, people were doing a little tour or whatever and came down to watch me and, like, line the stairwell, which was really cool. So I kind of figured, like, hey, you know, I might have something here and book some shows on the way on the drive back home. Little dive bar shows close to home, you know, maybe 10 people in the place.

8:24 But that was where it. That was where it started. And I really got the. The want to. To promote myself after an audition for American Idol didn't go too well. And I was like, you know, stick it to the man. I'm gonna do anyway, so. Oh, you did an American Idol audition? Yeah, yeah, I did. In 2021. Six months. Six months after I, like, publicly started playing and singing music, did American Idol. And, you know, it didn't go very well, but, you know, that's. That's in the past. I used it as some determination and sure, here we are. Dang. So once you get back and. And you've got songs, how are you trying to just build around North Carolina area? You coming back to Nashville a lot to play? How do you really start to build your, Your, Your. Your, you know, brand and everything? Yeah, so I started heavy on Tick tock right after the American Idol thing. And I think it was like two weeks later, I had my first video go viral.

9:29 And I was covering. I was covering a Zach Brian song, you know, and that gave me all the vindication I needed. I was like, I knew it. And then I started booking shows around Greenville, North Carolina, which is where the ECU campus is. So, you know, shout Out Dirty Dan's and Pantana Bobs in Greenville, North Carolina. That's where, you know, I really started cutting my teeth and honing my skills at, you know, doing an acoustic set and getting that, getting that worked out right. And that was it. And just kept posting on TikTok on the days that I. On the days I wasn't working. I think back then, I was posting once a week or something like that. And eventually over time, I built up a little audience, like 40,000 people. And, you know, my manager now found me, you know, signed me to Sign me to a record deal and here we are, you know, a few hundred thousand followers. Yeah. Through Tik Tok. That's.

10:28 Yeah. That's so wild. Yeah, man. Yeah. And, you know, that was a great tool for me, you know, working, you know, 40, 50 hours a week still in college, playing shows on the weekend night. You're. The amount of time you have to promote yourself is very limited. Oh, sure. So, you know, TikTok has been extremely beneficial to me. What was it like being able to go in and stop doing that 40 hour week job and be like, I'm doing this with music? I was really stubborn about it, man. I worked a blue collar job up until about six months ago. Oh, really? Yeah. I've heard this before with people though, or somebody like that was the greatest day of my life, being able to go and quit or whatever. But yeah, man, I've. I've done it so long, you know, I was. Honestly, from the time I was basically born, I've been working in a body shop with my grandpa, you know, so. Wow.

11:23 Hard work is like literally just who I am. And it was, it was tough for me. It was like an addiction. Like I just couldn't step away from it because then I felt like I was being idle. So about six months ago, I finally quit my day. I quit my, you know, blue collar job and just this past week we moved to Nashville, so. Oh, wow. I'm taking things really slow. Yeah, you're in that. I live in Nashville or South Nashville. South of Nashville. Yeah, same. Yeah. Southwest. Yeah. Cool, man. That's awesome. Yeah. You like it? I'm sure you'd love it so far. Yeah, man. I've spent so much time here in the last two years that, you know, this place feels just as much like home as, you know, Keenansville, North Carolina did. So. Yeah. Yeah, it's cool to. It's cool to, you know, finally be up to par with what everybody else is doing. I feel like I should have. Feel like I should have moved a long time ago, but hey, yeah, it's what it is, man. Exactly. And North Carolina isn't very far if you're coming here to, to track and stuff. Anyway. Yeah, no, it wasn't too bad. Little cool. Little nine hour drive. Yeah.

12:34 Right on. So you. Okay. So you get the manager reaches out to you, you sign with. With Warner, which is huge. Absolutely. Yeah. And what was like. Tell me about what that was like. And then from there it. Do you have the Lost Boys EP done before you signed with them or how did that all work. Because I know. Didn't they put out the first EP for you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I had released some. I had released some songs. None of them were very good. I had released some songs, you know, through the time. And I signed with. With Warner, and I believe it was September of 22. I signed with Warner Records. Or 23. 22 or 23. And I was still working a blue collar job in a factory and actually just got into a workplace accident and almost cut my fingers off. Like, these two fingers. Oh, my gosh. Yes. I went to my record label sign, you know, up here in Nashville, met the. The vp, or I think he might be the CEO of Warner Records now. Aaron Bayshuk, with my hand in a cast, you know, so.

13:47 And in all the press pictures, I'm like, hiding my hand behind my back so nobody can see that I'm, like, crippled myself up. Sure. He's like, are you still gonna be able to play or what are we doing here? Yeah. He was like. He was like, are you good? And I'm like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll be. I'll be good in a week. Don't worry about it. Yeah, I. I, in fact, was not good in a week, but I had all these songs written, man, and, you know, all that we basically had to do was get in there and start tracking them. And I tracked them back home in a little shack behind my buddy Kalin's house and threw them out there. Yeah, man. So. And eventually, you know, we.

14:30 We've kind of kept that format for a lot of stuff, and we're now starting to. To evolve into newer sounds, you know, kind of getting the whole fully produced thing, which is something I've been looking forward to since I did the acoustic stuff. Yeah. So. Okay. Wow. So the. That first CP you put out was all stuff that you had recording with your friend behind the house? Yeah, dude. It was like a little shack as big as your. Like a master bedroom, maybe. Oh, my God. All the computers and all that stuff up there. Yeah. And that was it. I mean, it literally is a backyard recording studio. So I drove 10 minutes from my house and tracked that EP and put it out. When you put it out, do you go on, like, with signing a record deal and all that stuff? Are you out on the road? I'm sure you got to do some tours right away on that and everything. Yes. So I haven't been able to do like a. Like a full grounded tour. I've done one. I went over overseas to Europe with Warren Zyders, which honestly was the coolest ever. Oh, wow. He's great. I've had him on my show before a couple times. Yeah. This past summer I was able to go and like, I was able to go play like six or seven shows with Warren and 49 Winchester. So we've had some really cool opportunities, basically just bounding off that ep. And it's also cool, you know, for the fan to come out and hear, you know, what this. What this song sounds like in my brain. And not just in an acoustic.

16:02 An acoustic. Right. Because you have a full band with you when you're touring and everything, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Except for the. The European thing when it was just me and, you know, my guitar player just out there, you know, swinging Coldplay covers. Wow. Well, okay, so talk to me about this, the. The new ep, then the upcoming. I know you've released what, four or five songs already. Yes. Yeah. So I put out a pretend use from Carolina, Mr. Tennessee, and hard Times. The newest one, right? Yep. And this new one, the EP is like all of that stuff combined, plus two new ones called hold on and It Can Wait. And this stuff, I'm, you know, I'm excited about putting out all of my music.

16:47 I'm excited about every song I write, but these songs I wrote with, you know, some of the guys I really look up to in the music business. It. I wrote hold on and Hard Times with Randy Montana and Nick Walsh, which are honestly two geniuses of a songwriters. And Ross Copperman did the production on, you know, Hard Times, hold on and It Can Wait. So it's everything I have wanted my music to sound like. You know, I was really able to sit down with Ross for and. And just discuss what I want the sound to be. And this, this EP is exactly what I have wanted my music to sound like since I. Since I started. And the songs themselves, they're not your run of the mill, you know, country. Country music, it's.

17:39 Right. Not at all. At least before I've heard. Yeah, yeah. And Ross calls it grown man music, which is the best description ever. So, yeah, it talks about heavy topics, you know, it talks about sacrificing. It talks about, you know, finding something to hold on to when you feel like the world is just caving in on top of you. And it talks about just being frustrated with the world, you know, and when you feel like, you know, everything is going your way and you see all these things happening around you, you know, so they talk about really heavy topics and. Which is what I've used my music to do the entire.

18:22 The entirety of my career is I want to make music that means something to me and, you know, to the people that might hear it. Yeah, it's just my attempt to. To make a difference. I love that. And that's even, like you said earlier, kind of how you started into it. You wanted an outlet for all the stuff that was going on. So you tried to learn how to play guitar. You started to learn how to play guitar. Right, Right. Yeah, yeah. It's just, you know, music's been a saving grace to me. So, you know, if I can return that favor for somebody, like just one person, and then I'm good, you know, I could retire right now. So. I love it. When. So did you record. Where did you record this? In Nashville or you didn't? Yeah, I did. I recorded it with. With Ross and his studio here in Nashville. So that was the first time I'd worked with my buddy Micah Carpenter before.

19:15 But, yeah, so I'm. I'm slowly moving my operations out here to Nashville, which is, you know, such a great thing. It might be disconcerting to some of my fans that just really like acoustic stuff, but, you know, this is where we're going. This is the direction we're taking it now. I love it. Yeah. Was it different? I mean, you. You recorded in your friends. You said it's like a little shack and behind his house. And then this must have been a totally. Was this the first experience you've ever had, like, in a bigger mate, like a proper studio with all the bells and whistles? Yeah. So, you know, a lot of the. The technology and stuff is a little more updated and, you know, it's Nashville. You know, you got. You got all the bells and whistles here in Nashville, but I have, you know, really founded a lot of my recording situations and studios or whatever with people I can relate to. You know, you can form this. This little bond over creating this sound, you know, so that's really what I have strived to do. I have just formulated really good relationships with all the guys I work with. So, yeah, so it's a little different, but it's all the same feelings in the. In the studio.

20:27 Yeah. Awesome. Well, EP comes out a couple weeks, right? Or next year, 17th? Yeah, man. Yeah, a couple weeks. That's exciting. Yeah. Yeah, man. Are you doing anything big for the release? Are you doing. I know you have some shows coming up, but are you gonna do a tour, do you think? No, I think I'm actually going to take a couple months off, really sit in and sit down with some of my guys and write what might be an album in the future sometime, so. Oh, damn. Okay. Yeah, getting. Getting geared up to just write some really good music, man. That. That's what I'm in it for. I love the music, love making music, love writing and recording it. So, you know, that that's what I'm really excited for, is what I'm looking forward to right now. So, yeah, love it. I love it. Well, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much for doing this. Yeah, man, of course. I appreciate you guys having me. Of course. I do have one more question. I want to know if you have any advice for aspiring artists.

21:25 Keep going. Don't give up. You know, this business separates the people that want it and the people that don't want it. And if you want it bad enough, you just stay determined. Keep doing it, keep posting, keep playing shows, keep writing songs. Never give up. And eventually you'll get somewhere. Bring it backwards, bring it backward, bring it backward, bring it backward, bring it backwards, bring it backwards.