Will Overman’s Crossroads in Life and Music

I’ve been giving some thought as to how Will Overman might have improved his art and performance in recent years. I was looking for a route to help me write about new directions in Will’s musical life. The Charlottesville, VA, singer-songwriter is in a period of major change, about which he is very optimistic.

Will has shared with me that he sees a maturing in his work, and he sees the vehicle for presenting his new music as as going solo. This will include a solo EP,  Crossroads, due for release on Oct. 7 in his hometown of Virginia Beach. While he will have a stellar band behind him on the album, most of his studio musicians have other projects and will not become a new Will Overman Band (WOB).

Will has toured extensively during the past several years with WOB.  However, with one exception, they will move on to other projects. WOB members are Genna Matthew, J. Wilkerson, Garrett Moore, Nate Sacks, and Tim Dunkum, a group that has changed periodically over the years. Overman is currently on a final tour with WOB, ending with a record-release  and Farewell Block Party on Oct. 7.

Another significant change is the artist’s graduation from the University of Virginia (UVA). He and his girlfriend, Janey Gioiosa, gracing the cover of the recent “Best of Charlottesville” issue of C-Ville Weeky, are taking some time out to do some traveling.

The players on Crossroads are Sam Wilson, of Sons of Bill, Eric Knutson, Johnny Stubblefield, of Parachute, Genna Matthew, of WOB, Allison Moore, and Brad Swanson.

Will is unlike Ian Felice, whom I recently wrote about, who is also doing solo projects for the first time. Ian told me that he’d had no desire to go solo, and enjoyed playing in his band, The Felice Brothers, as always. Yet, he felt this was a period in his life where some solo expression made sense, and he felt compelled to express some things as a solo artist. He has kept his role as a Felice Brothers member, however, completely in-tact.

In contrast, Will wants to establish a solo identity.  He told me that he expects to play with bands, but not have his identity tied-up in that of a band. Instead, he envisions performing in the vein of (I was struck at Will’s self confidence in evoking these examples) Springsteen or Ryan Adams. In those instances, Will said, people come to see Bruce or Ryan, not a band per se, though the audiences realize the headliner will likely be appearing with a band.  (I would think, in Springsteen’s case, it would be a recognizable band though).

Overman’s new, just-released solo single, “Supernova,” is very cool. The other song recently released, “Crossroads,” has a different pace, but is a fine tune also. Getting back to my ruminations on whether I can see improvements in the new Will Overman, at this Crossroads, I think so. It’s hard to put into words, but I think it is, as he suggests, a maturing. As much as I enjoyed and admired his earlier work, I did find something missing that I had trouble identifying. But, I now think it was that the songs didn’t exhibit the same ease, thoroughness, and maturity that the new work does. The newly-released singles, “Crossroads,” and, now, “Supernova,” seem to have met that challenge.

I especially like “Supernova,” the rocker of the two. One, it really gives the band room to shine. Will’s arrangement brings out the best in both vocals and instrumentation. I think I hear Sam Wilson doing some pretty shredding, holding the reigns on those shreds a bit to keep the melody shining. There feels to me an increased authority of expression in the song, with the music improved through paring-back, subtlety, and relative confidence.

“At this crossroads, my goal is to put my best foot forward and establish my voice as a songwriter, and begin what I hope will be a long and fruitful career as a musician,” Overman said, “Each of the songs (on the EP) explores the world as seen through a young man’s eyes. They are songs of disappointment, of questioning, of frustration, growth, sadness, elation, of coming to terms with, and everything in-between.”

The Overman journey is one well worth joining him on. He is determined not to disappoint, and I don’t think that he does or will.