The singer, songwriter, and ‘Son of Dad’ pays tribute to one of his chief influences
For those who have seen Stephen Wilson Jr.’s thrilling live shows, they know the knockout punch comes during the one-two combo of “Year to Be Young 1994” into a cover of Nirvana’s “Something in the Way.” Until now, fans could only hear his grunge-country tribute onstage, but on Thursday — Wilson’s birthday — he dropped an acoustic version online.
When Wilson performs “Year to Be Young” live, he often weaves in the melody of Nirvana’s “All Apologies” to telegraph what’s to come. “Hid in my headphones for years to this one,” Wilson wrote on Instagram of “Something in the Way.” “Grateful for this song & this band.”
Directed by Jace Kartye, the video features Wilson sitting in a hallway to perform the song as another figure wearing Wilson’s blue cardigan and a fox mask haunts the doorways. Like a lot of what Wilson does, it’s creepy and, at times, aggressive stuff (the way he slashes at his acoustic guitar in the solo is as terrifying as that guy in the mask).
Wilson is currently on tour in Europe, opening a string of dates with Joss Stone. He returns to the U.S. for festival appearances at Country Thunder in Wisconsin, Faster Horses in Michigan, and the Headwaters Country Jam in Montana. He launches his headlining Son of Dad Tour in September in Cleveland.
Last month, Wilson — who wrote about the loss of his father on his breakout album Son of Dad — released a cinematic video for “Grief Is Only Love” that re-creates moments from Wilson’s life, including being taught to box by his father, and casts the singer-songwriter as an unseen narrator, ghostly riding in the back of a car as his on-screen self races home to see his dad before he dies.