Wheelwright brings a southwestern sound of pop and grunge from the sprawling desert city of Phoenix, AZ. None of his songs are idealistic. No light without darkness, no laughter without at least some suffering, no thoughtfulness without some recklessness. With devil may care spirit, and a message of hope, frustration, and love, Wheelwright’s music contrasts between worlds of wandering existentialism, the strife of modern relationships, and the shreds of hope that can be found in darkest and most broken places of ourselves. Songs of acceptance, hard luck, and love without all the kumbaya bullshit, but rather the idea that we are all beautiful and flawed, stuck here together, whether we like it or not. His songs are self admitting and allow listeners to meet him where they truthfully are. It’s brash and it’s honest. In his words, “everybody has things about themselves that they don’t like, they have things that they would change about themselves, but they also have spirits, and hopes, and dreams and light inside of them despite the darkness that seems to hang over us as we march into the uncertainty of what’s next.”
