Meet Xander Wells

Today we’d like to introduce you to Xander Wells.

Hi Xander, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory. 
I started playing singing and playing guitar as far back as I can remember. My pops was in a psychedelic rock band based out of Richmond, Virginia called “The Headstone Circus” he played lead guitar and sang; he was killer. They toured throughout the east coast beach circuit and were pretty big in the 90s! It’s how he met my mom, touring, and how I came to be. I was basically born on the tour bus hahaha. My first few years of life were on the tour bus or backstage during shows, and that definitely had an impact. I got my first guitar from my pops when I was 2, and I was always playing or singing something. (I included in my pictures some pictures of him and I, as a baby, with that guitar). 

Growing up here in Cincy I was always involved in music, violin, choirs, etc. I even did opera for a while (which was such an important foundation for my singing). When I was about 10, I got really into playing around with my acoustic, I would bring that thing everywhere- to the playground, friends’ houses, I was the worst hahaha. When I hit my teens, I started going to the School for Creative & Performing Arts, here in Cincinnati and just was surrounded by so much creativeness, most importantly a lot of different music. Mainly I was there for theatre/musical theatre, but I also had so many incredible music teachers that really just kept me entrenched in music. For guitar, though I was self-taught, by ear, I still can’t read music hahaha. When I was about 16, I got my first decent acoustic guitar (the main guitar I still use today) and that’s when I got exposed to old-school blues music. 

Growing up with a Deadhead mom, I was always listening to classic rock growing up, be it the Grateful Dead, or Beatles, Zeppelin, Hendrix, etc. I think the soundtrack to my childhood was just late 60s-early 70s psych rock! My mom would always have records playing of that, so I already dug it. But again, about the time I got that guitar, I happened to come across an old Robert Johnson recording, and my mind was blown. I still remember it was “drunken hearted man, take 1”. That kind of unleashed the floodgates of me loving old-school blues. 30s, Delta blues, Mississippi hill blues, and the like. Robert Johnson, Lightnin Hopkins, Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, Son House. The music was just incredible, and as I dove into the history and the style I just fell in love more, it blew my mind that most of the music I already loved was derived from this old Blues. Naturally, it was what made me glue to my guitar, and I just wanted to learn everything Blues. This Natural Rabbit hole lead me to find the Black Keys too at the time, and they were probably the biggest influence on my playing and taste. Given the fact that they were from Ohio too, and were inspired by most of the same music, I was hooked. 

Cut to a few years later, I’m 19 and in college for musical theatre at Northern Kentucky University, and I’m trying to find a way to make rent. When you go to school for MT and do shows and whatnot, it can be hard to work a stable job. I had been playing so much just with friends and at school up to that point, wrote A LOT of songs too. My mom was like, “Why don’t we try booking you a gig and you play out?” Good money, playing music, interesting people? Sure why not. I did my first show at Deans Hops n’ Vines on the west side of Cincy, and I was just hooked. I started picking up gigs left and right. It kinda took over my life, but I just fell in LOVE with it. I would start doing two or three shows a weekend, averaging about 8 shows a month at different bars or breweries around Cincy. Graduating college I was more of a musician than a theatre person, it was essentially my full-time job. Back in 2019, I hit 86 shows for the year, doubled from the previous year, and I felt just in my element, released my first EP back then too. Of course, the pandemic happened, and the world shut down the next year, but it just solidified the fact that this is what I want to do. 

8 years of playing out now, it’s the only thing that feels natural to me. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Yes, and no? Hahaha I feel like that’s always the answer. 

From the technical side of things, it’s been great. I play so many shows, I’m very lucky to be able to play as much as I do, I really don’t say no to a gig. Not to mention the fact that I get paid to play them, to all my musicians out there (other artists too) get paid for your work! You are valuable! I’ve also just had a fun row of it. Have there been bad gigs? Sure always, you’re always gonna have good ones and bad ones. I would say early on, a hurdle was deciding that I wanted to do this over the theatre, it’s always weird to change your path ya know? But it feels good. 

The other big hurdles more of a mental one. My pops who I mentioned earlier, was an incredible musician and a great man. I had a rocky relationship with him, though, and he definitely influenced a lot of what I played and how I do things. Musician children of musicians am I right? He passed away suddenly when I was 20, and this has just impacted everything I do when it comes to music. He is still one of my biggest idols; the man could sing like no other and was WICKED at guitar. Every time I play a show, I’m trying to live up to him. There’s always that thought of doubt just floating in my brain, but encouragement too. I wanna make him proud, playing like he did. 

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
So, as I mentioned earlier, I play blues. Old gritty, dirty, scruffy, rockin blues. As much as I respect it, I could never get into the Chicago blues sound; think like your BB King who is amazing, probably the greatest blues player to ever exist. I just love southern blues. There’s just something about the grit, and the pain, where it comes from, there’s a beauty to the roughness of it.

If you come out to one of my shows, you’re gonna get some growling blues from me. I saddle myself with one guitar, no loop pedals or any of that (although respect to those who can rock em). And I fill out the sound with just me and my guitar. Lotta Blues lotta rock, too, I also throw in some folk too, because that’s where some of the best songwriting comes from. 

But yeah, I guess if I had to say I was getting a name for something it would be the way I sing blues. 

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Getting along with people man. Like it takes a LOT for me to not like someone, especially nowadays, life is too short. But going that extra mile to get to know the staff of a venue I play at or just talking to people who have listened to you. I love people, people are where I get songs and inspiration in general from, so it feels natural to me. But taking that extra minute to be a person with all the people you’ve sang to for the past 3-4 hours just helps. 

Also, just general professionalism. I think musicians can get a bad wrap sometimes (not all the time and it definitely depends on the genera and the level) but taking that extra time to just make sure you are on time and ready (“if you are on time, you are late!”). Communicating with the staff and people booking is also just such a simple but important thing. it is something I pride myself in. My mom hammered it into me growing up hahaha 

On the Performing end of the spectrum, two things; 

One, for me, is stamina. I can do 4 nights in a row, 3–4-hour gigs, and still have a voice. Which is hard, a lot of that is I was just lucky to be born with a decent set of pipes, but also growing up with a lot of classical training. You see it so often, musicians that blow themselves out on one performance and don’t have a voice for the next night. Also making sure I keep it healthy as I’m getting older. 

The second on the performing side of things is I just have fun with playing. So many times, I’ll see people play, who it becomes a chore for them. I get that sometimes you can be tired or have a bad day, they happen, but I just can’t help but feel like a ball of energy every time I play. I try to play every show like I’m going to die the next day, and it helps not being over the top but just living in the moment that I get to make art all the time. There’s not a single show I take for granted, at the end of the day I’m just lucky to be able to play music as much as I do.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xanderwellsmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xanderwellsmusic
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1VhLM29WVJgXpiQt3AfGYb?si=KbaHDjyfTcGznhK66MQC5w

Image Credits
Luca Doutt