Will Stratton

This California-born, New Jersey-raised singer/songwriter — who launched his songwriting career as a teenager — is a self-professed disciple of Nick Drake.
Having taken piano lessons since the age of four, Will Stratton later picked up the acoustic guitar and began composing before he entered high school. Several years later, he found himself attending college (where he pursued a degree in music composition) while playing shows in support of his debut effort, 2007′s What the Night Said. Sufjan Stevens made an appearance on the album, thus strengthening Stratton’s connection to the songwriters who influenced his writing. His second album, No Wonder, followed in 2009. French label Talitres Records released his 2012 LP Post-Empire, as well as 2014′s Gray Lodge Wisdom.
Although he called New York City his home for several years, Stratton left for upstate New York after recovering from a bout with cancer and found temporary work teaching fine arts at a boarding school. During this time, he never stopped making music. Named after his guitar, his fifth album, Rosewood Almanac, marked Stratton’s debut on the Bella Union label in 2017. There was significant gap between this record and its follow-up. When The Changing Wilderness did arrive in 2021, it exhibited a less personal, more outward-looking approach to his songwriting than ever before. ~ Andrew Leahey & Marcy Donelson