Will Moseley: A late bloomer but a fast riser is finding success in his own time

Before he was writing hit singles or touring as an opening act for the Zac Brown Band, one of America’s rising musicians said he was just a typical teen.

Recalling an awkward age when he wasn’t sure what his calling was — or even what interests he had that he should be honing — Will Moseley shared the story of how he got his first guitar.

The tale begins on a December evening at his childhood home in Hazlehurst, Georgia, when Moseley was about 16 years old. His mother had asked an expected question — what would he like for Christmas?

“You know, you get to that certain age, and it’s kind of a weird thing,” Moseley said with a laugh. “I didn’t play video games or anything like that. I said, ‘I don’t know.’ We were sitting there, the TV’s on, and we were eating supper. I look over and saw a guitar.”

Since inspiration had struck, he made the request. Though he had no prior musical experience, he’d always enjoyed the craft as a listener and thought it would be cool to learn to play.

His mother agreed, but with one stipulation. The guitar wasn’t to be cast aside or stowed away in the closet.

“So, she bought it. I got it for Christmas,” Moseley recalled. “We probably made it to New Year’s (Day) before it found the closet.”

The instrument collected dust for nearly three years until Moseley moved out for college. Even then, he said he didn’t pick it up to play seriously until he’d transferred from Maryville College, where he played Division III football, to Georgia Southern University, where he began to shift his focus to his studies.

Knowing he wanted to find a career that would allow him to work with his hands, Moseley explained his decision to major in biology with aspirations of eventually working in the medical field. It turns out fate would have other plans, and those plans would include that neglected guitar.

About the time the COVID pandemic hit, Moseley had dusted off his six-string. With extra time on his hands, he turned to online sources like YouTube and taught himself to play. Along with the strumming, came singing and songwriting.

“I was watching a YouTube video that said if you would sing while you played, that it would help you with your rhythm in playing guitar,” Moseley recalled. “A couple of my buddies who were around at the time were like, ‘That ain’t bad. You ought to do that a little more often.”

Taking that advice, he began playing some for the camera in his home and posting to his social media. Occasionally, he’d play small gigs around his college town, and eventually, Moseley caught the attention of some talent scouts for American Idol.

The budding artist admits he was quick to write those scouts off thinking he wouldn’t be a good fit for the competitive television series, but the same friends who encouraged him to showcase his skills also urged him to audition.

After earning a coveted Golden Ticket, Moseley seemed to glide through the competition. He advanced each week, thanks to his growing fanbase, and made it through the final round, ending up as the second runner up to Season 22 winner Abi Carter.

That experience, he said, not only thrust him onto a world stage, but also helped him in learning to navigate the ins and outs of the music industry.

“It definitely is a jumpstart,” Moseley said. “It gives you a platform to reach new people, and that reach is extremely large. They’re one of the biggest — if not the biggest — singing competitions on television now, and you know, it’s just an awesome opportunity that opened a lot of doors.”

Those doors led to opportunities like playing his first arena show when he opened a New Year’s Eve concert for the Grammywinning Zac Brown Band in Atlanta, Georgia, and the chance to perform alongside other country stars like Clint Black, the Marshal Tucker Band and Riley Green.

“We roll with the punches, and we try to take as much advice as we can,” Moseley said, speaking for himself and his management team. Citing a familiar adage, “Don’t take advice from someone you wouldn’t trade places with,” Moseley added that much of that advice has served him well on tour and in the recording studio. Perhaps the guidance he took most to heart came from lead singer Zac Brown.

“He made a comment one time that he didn’t like being a named a genrespecific artist,” Moseley said. “He didn’t want to be called a country artist or a rock artist or a pop artist. He just wanted to be an artist, because each song is a piece of art that can express itself in its own way.

“I’ve always thought that was a really cool mentality to have when you’re creating music.”

Nodding to some of his musical icons, Moseley said he and bandmate Benji Taylor often find inspiration in songwriting from artists like Blackberry Smoke and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

“They have that Southern rock sound, and then we’re also huge fans of Waylon Jennings and Jamey Johnson — that traditional, deep-rooted storytelling country sound,” he said. “I wouldn’t say we’re chameleons, but we’ll find these bands, and we’ll go down these rabbit holes. We’ll listen for days, and we’ll take inspiration from it.

“I think that’s part of the growth and the development of our sound. We try to be open-minded. We’re always looking for ways to incorporate new sounds and improve our shows.”