BandWilder

Originally from Half Moon, Arkansas, CJ Wilder has been singing since he could talk. After moving to Music City USA in 2007, he began slinging guitars and basses with the likes of Daryle Singletary, Bo Bice, and Krystal Keith. Also banking songwriting credits for artists like Josh Thompson, and Russel Hitchcock of Air Supply, CJ has been able to keep his musical fire hot for 15 years now.  

"I've been performing since I was a kid, and I've always loved it!  Early on I noticed a knack for being able to find my role in supporting other singers and playing FOR other people. I always felt more comfortable in the background, helping other people on their musical journey."  

 After the release of his first E.P. “Imaginate” in 2012, CJ continued touring and beating up the streets on Nashville’s Broadway Strip backing up Jake Maurer, Chris Shrader, Tom Yankton, and the Carolina Company Band. You’d likely see him on any given weekend playing bass or guitar at one of the many Nashville honky tonks, such as, Tootsies, Legends Corner, Fiddle and Steel Guitar Bar, The Stage, and AJ's Goodtime Bar. After a lot of life changes over the past two years, he is currently investing some of those talents into his own music and solo gigs.  

"Nashville is an amazing place to be if you're a musician or music lover. I'm lucky to be both! It is hard to put into words how much God has blessed me in this town. Musically I have learned so much, found friends, and built lifetime relationships. Thankfully I have been able to travel all over the world because of a passion that turned into a career. Now with a slightly different perspective, while my wife and I raise our two little girls, I am putting what real life is all about into the songs I'm creating. "  

After a tornado ravaged the Middle Tennessee area in March 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic, CJ and his family found themselves without their house, AND the primary breadwinner now unemployed. Thankfully, this story has a happy ending.  

"When we needed it the most, we had a blanket of support totally surrounding our community and our family. Strangers from all over came to aid in the cleanup. It was very humbling and overwhelming to be on the other side of need, and watch in awe as your friends and family rally around you to help."  

 Because of these life-changes, CJ found a new love for music, playing solo acoustic shows around the Nashville area as well as back home in Arkansas. CJ's buddy Paul hired him on his landscaping crew to help make ends meet in the interim. Through this new job opportunity, he discovered a new hobby too! Trees and plants! CJ was able to use some of those landscaping skills to help decorate his yard for his family's brand new house. 

"After the gigs completely stopped because of the pandemic, one of my dear friends hired me onto his landscape company. It was such a drastic change from musician to laborer, as you can imagine! On top of that I was starting to play solo gigs strictly out of necessity. Both things very foreign but also incredibly fulfilling. Nothing takes your mind off of life like digging a hole! Backyard Magicians LLC! "  

He also started a party band called BandWilder! CJ hopes to continue his musical journey as long as possible.  

"If not for those changes in my life in 2020, I would have never been given the opportunity to learn about trees at all. Or had the need to play solo gigs, which strengthened my confidence to step out from behind others to provide for my family. God wraps blessings in funny paper sometimes. In all things, give thanks."