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When Will Callery exploded onto the music scene in 1976, Billboard Magazine picked his debut single “Showboat” as a Top Country Pick and said this of Callery,

“...this brilliantly constructed song, written by Callery, turns into a smashing debut by the multi-talented entertainer. Few singers have made a more noteworthy entry into the commercial marketplace than Callery.”

Will Callery's reputation as a songwriter and performer is widely known and respected by artists and fans across genres.  His music has been recorded and performed by artists ranging from Willie Nelson and Jerry Jeff Walker to Norah Jones.

Born in Terre Haute, Indiana, and raised in Owensboro, Kentucky, Will Callery fell in love with the sounds and songs of the South. Eventually the muse led Will to the west coast where he developed his songwriting skills playing legendary coffeehouses and roadhouses from San Diego to Coos Bay, from Cid's Blue Beat in Newport Beach to The House of the Rising Sun in Redondo, The Ice House in Pasadena, The Ash Grove in LA, and The Golden Bear near San Diego. 

Will Callery’s songwriting talent was recognized immediately, and he began touring with such notables as Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, David Lindley, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, Chuck McCabe, Arlo Guthrie and Taj Mahal.

Will eventually returned to the sunny South and moved to Nashville where he worked as a staff writer for April-Blackwood Publishing (CBS). He rented an apartment on 17th Avenue and hung out with some of “the boys that made the noise on 16th Avenue,” living in the same house as such legendary songwriters as Kris Kristofferson. 

After forming “Lusaza Goose,” a duo with Roger Bartlett, Callery moved to Austin, Texas, where they began opening shows for Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson and Little Feat.  Jerry Jeff Walker soon recorded several songs written by Will Callery, including  “The Pot Can't Call The Kettle Black,” “The First Showboat,”  “Leroy,”  “Pass It On,”  and “Hands on the Wheel. 

While touring Colorado and New Mexico with Billy C and the Austin Healeys, Callery got a call from Willie Nelson informing him that Willie had just cut his song, “Hands on the Wheel” on a new concept album, titled The Red Headed Stranger, released by Columbia Records in 1975. This landmark record went double platinum, won a Grammy nomination and put Will Callery on the international map as a songwriter and performer. Jerry Jeff Walker was instrumental in getting “Hands on the Wheel” to Willie Nelson, playing it for Nelson at an “all night song-swapping session.”

“Hands on the Wheel” was also chosen as the title song for the movie, The Electric Horseman, which starred Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. This helped Callery develop a strong solo writing and touring career with his contemporaries, Jerry Jeff Walker, Charlie Daniels, Milton Carrol and Willie Nelson 

NORA JONES PERFORMING WILL'S HIT SONG 'HANDS ON THE WHEEL'

Will Callery was later signed to a four year contract with Lone Star Records, Nelson’s Texas imprint for the Columbia label. His first album received critical acclaim by fans and press alike. Rolling Stone selected “The First Showboat” as a Top Single Pick and called it, “A strong offering...brilliantly constructed,” and “a smashing debut by the multi-talented entertainer.” Rolling Stone went on to say, “Few singers have made a more noteworthy entry into the commercial marketplace than Callery.”  His performance career has taken him across the country and included shows at Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July Picnics, which drew over 300,000 people. Callery can also be seen in the film, Heartworn Highways, with Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell. In addition to his film work, Will has written songs for such television shows as “St. Elsewhere” and “Northern Exposure.”

However, Callery’s success came with a price. After developing a drug abuse problem that hindered his career and personal health, Callery returned to his home in Kentucky.  He bought a chainsaw and went to work falling timber for five dollars an hour, eventually moving to the Pacific Northwest working as a lumberjack in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. But the music never left his heart and soul.

Now the time has come for Will Callery to return to the music that stirs his soul and so many others. His new CD, Rider Comin’ In, was recorded in Austin at The Zone Studios with legendary musicians Will has worked with over the years such as Joe Forlini, guitar man extraordinaire who has worked with Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson and Stevie Ray Vaughan. T. Gosney Thornton adds harmony vocals and soulful blues harp. Greg Lowry plays anything with strings not to mention “pipes” and “thumb piano.”  Will’s dear friend Jerry Jeff Walker performs a duet with Callery as they reprise perhaps Callery’s most-famous song thus far, “Hands on the Wheel.”  And last, but not least, the incredible rhythm team of Eddy Cantu (drums) and Ted Sweeney (Fender fretless bass) work their usual magic.

 

Rider Comin’ In will be released nationally on September 16, 2008 on Feats Records, distributed by Burnside Distribution.