Waylon Wyatt: 'I Don’t Want A Lot Of Production In My Music. I Love The Raw Sound'

Waylon Wyatt’s debut single, Everything Under The Sun, came out less than a year ago. But the 17-year-old country singer now commands a fanbase far beyond his hometown of Hackett, Arkansas.

Everything Under The Sun has been streamed 20 million times since its official release in November 2023. Wyatt, who’s still a senior in high school, made an even bigger impact with his next single, the lovesick ballad Arkansas Diamond, which landed in December.

The two songs earned Wyatt, whose skinny physique and fresh-faced appearance belie his pained vocal style and melancholic temperament, comparisons to contemporaries like Sam Barber and Wyatt Flores. Meanwhile, commenters on YouTube and Reddit quickly declared Wyatt a disciple of country superstars Zach Bryan and Tyler Childers.

Both Everything Under The Sun and Arkansas Diamond featured on Wyatt’s debut EP, Til The Sun Goes Down, released in July 2024 through Darkroom Records. The label, whose roster also includes Billie Eilish and d4vd, signed Wyatt on the strength of a webcam recording of Everything Under The Sun.

Speaking to Countrytown over Zoom from his Arkansas bedroom, Wyatt says he was initially reluctant to post the recording online.

“I’m very sceptical of everything online and always have been,” he says. “But I showed it to my buddy, and he absolutely loved it. He was like, ‘You gotta put it online, man. I’m telling you, people will love it.’”

Wyatt was already an active creator on TikTok, uploading covers of songs by his idols, Bryan and Childers. But he was worried about facing harsh criticism if he posted one of his own songs.

“That’s what online people do – they just judge you because they get to hide behind a fake username and everything like that,” Wyatt says. “So, I was just like, I’m not even going to bother.”

But Wyatt’s friend wouldn’t let it rest – “He kept on and on to the point where I was like, ‘Man, if I post this, will you stop talking about it?’” – and once he’d posted it, the reaction was immediate.

“I actually got so much love and support that record labels started reaching out to me, and I found one that I love working with,” Wyatt says, referring to Darkroom.

Darkroom is best known for signing 14-year-old Billie Eilish in 2015. The label’s roster is limited, but its record of success is undeniable. Along with the nine-time Grammy award-winning Eilish, Darkroom has fostered the careers of bedroom pop artist d4vd, pop rock musician Holly Humberstone, EDM producer John Summit, and rising folk singer Brenn!

Wyatt is the first country musician on the label, and he’s not interested in polishing his style.

“I’m very stern about, like, I don’t want a lot of production in my music,” Wyatt says. “That’s not what I’m looking for. I love the raw sound – the raw vocals, raw guitar, raw acoustic. Nothing overlaid on it.”

In this regard, Wyatt takes cues from his heroes. “Tyler Childers is one of my biggest inspirations, and I just love his raw sound,” he says. “It’s just him singing into a microphone. Same with Zach Bryan – it’s just straight, raw vocals. And they’re great lyricists as well. I feel like they’re two of the greatest modern lyricists of our time.”

Lyrics are a priority for Wyatt, too, something that’s been evident from Everything Under The Sun onwards. The song’s narrator is living with regret and heartache after being left by their partner. “This bed still has room for two,” it begins. “And in my head, I always thought it'd be you.”

Despite Wyatt’s tender age, the song’s lyrics have struck a chord with listeners across age groups, if the YouTube comments are anything to go by.

“Broke up with my girlfriend of 3 years and she was from Arkansas, [thought] of marrying her and starting a family,” wrote one user. “Don’t even know what happened, things just changed one day.”

Someone else found solace in Everything Under The Sun after losing their pet dog. “Never knew what true loss was until now,” they wrote. “This song ripped me to pieces to be quite frank. Needed this song more than I knew myself.”

Letting go, even when it hurts, is a central theme of Wyatt’s latest single, Jailbreak, a collaboration with 19-year-old Tennessean singer-songwriter Bayker Blankenship. Wyatt first came across Blankenship, a popular TikToker, after the latter covered Arkansas Diamond.

“I reached out to him and told him it was a great cover,” says Wyatt.

Blankenship posted his version of Arkansas Diamond in January 2024, three months before releasing his debut single, Maxed Out. Wyatt was impressed with Blankenship’s songwriting and suggested the two of them meet in person.

“I was like, ‘I’d love to get to know you, man, because I love your stuff; you have a great voice, great sound.’”

The pair arranged to meet in Nashville, approximately halfway between their respective homes. Within an hour of the meeting, they started working on Jailbreak. The song took shape quickly, with the two songwriters determined to finish it before leaving Nashville.

“We were staying at the same hotel,” says Wyatt, “so we went back to the hotel and got a couple of snacks.”

Looking for an appropriate place in the hotel to make noise, they holed up in the gym. “We did not work out whatsoever,” laughs Wyatt, “but we brought our guitars into the gym, and we just wrote the rest of the song in there.”

Wyatt’s run of success continues with Jailbreak, which debuted at #35 on the Countrytown Hot 50. The Til The Sun Goes Down EP has now amassed nearly 100 million global streams, and Wyatt recently played his first headline shows.

However, before making music his full-time thing, Wyatt has to finish high school. “It’s crazy to say that I’m travelling the world, and then I have to go sit right back in the classroom,” he says.

Wyatt will graduate in April 2025. So, can we expect to see him in Australia sometime after that? “Yes, sir,” Wyatt says with a grin.

Jailbreak is out now on all streaming services via Darkroom Records.