About

With deep bluegrass roots and a hard-edged traditional country sound, Will Jones is carving out a space where Appalachian soul meets outlaw grit.

Will didn’t so much learn three chords as inherit them. Raised deep in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, his music carries the raw heartbeat of Appalachian bluegrass and the fierce edge of traditional country. “I knew three chords and the truth before I even knew my ABCs,” he says of his earliest years in music, when he was already on stage with a guitar in hand, immersed in the mountain spirit that shaped generations before him.

Born into the family band, The Cana Ramblers, Will learned early what it meant to perform. By age six, he was singing lead, strumming guitar, and commanding the crowd as the band’s natural MC. “I was always the one talking to the crowd,” he recalls. “Knowing how to entertain and hold a stage — that’s what I’m still doing now. Nothing’s changed.”

Nothing’s changed, but he’s certainly refined. For Will, Appalachian bluegrass is the lifeblood that shapes both his music and his story, sonically honoring bluegrass pioneers like Tony Rice, Jimmy Martin, Larry Sparks, Bill Monroe, and Flatt & Scruggs, all while forging something distinctly his own. When his sisters left the band to pursue other paths, Will faced a crossroads. At 17, he stepped out on his own, carrying the Appalachian soul with him and choosing the road less traveled.

Now based in Nashville, Will’s career has taken him to stages alongside artists like Jon Pardi, Ashley McBryde, Josh Turner, Tracy Lawrence, and Gavin Adcock, as well as bluegrass royalty including Ralph Stanley, Chris Thile, Sierra Hull, and Ben Haggard. In a full-circle moment, Will made his Ryman Auditorium debut opening for Josh Turner, the same room where he first saw Turner play as a wide-eyed visitor to Nashville years earlier. He has since gone on to sign with Lady Luck Songs and Blue Harbor Music for publishing and artist development.

Will’s most recent releases, “Lonesome Dove,” “My Country’s Showing,” “Devil’s Den,” and “Come On In,” capture a sound that’s equal parts front-porch picker and highway poet, with a fun-loving, rebellious streak. His latest single, “Stripes in the Yard,” released June 12, continues that run, with “Babies and Country Music” set to follow on August 14. “The heart of my sound remains rooted in my bluegrass beginnings,” Will says.

Since moving to Nashville, Will has fully immersed himself in the city’s rich songwriting culture. “I’m still a student of songwriting,” he shares. “I’ve put in the 10,000 hours, but I still catch myself always trying to get better. These days, I’m lucky enough to write with people I looked up to growing up — songwriters I used to admire from a distance, I now get to call friends.”

But beyond the spotlight, it’s Will’s roles as husband and father that ground his songwriting in real life. “Those are the things that give the songs meaning,” he says. In an era chasing viral fame and shortcuts, Will’s playing the long game. “I want a career built on substance,” he explains. “If you’re true to who you are, it lasts longer. Even if it doesn’t look like someone else’s path, I can be proud of what I built because it’s mine.”

That fierce loyalty to self and family keeps him steady. “I don’t compare myself,” he says. “I go home to my family. My achievements are for them. That keeps me humble. That keeps me grounded.”

With new music rolling out and headline shows on the horizon, Will Jones is poised for a breakout rooted not in gimmicks, but grit, growth, and deep respect for the heritage that raised him. “Steeped in tradition but a little wild, free, and unpredictable,” he says with a grin, “that’s me.”