Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Wanda Wesolowski. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Wanda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents are both musically inclined. My dad wrote songs, recorded them and shared them with my siblings and me. My mom used to professionally host karaoke several nights a week. My step-mother cleared out an unused room in our house and made it into a music room with her grand piano and all my dad’s guitars on the walls. My parents immediately put me into lessons when I was interested in playing and encouraged me to join band. Because music and being creative was so encouraged and normalized at a young age for me, I was able to adopt the skills necessary to being a working musician early on in my life. The impact they had on my career was truly instrumental. And this is why music education is important as well.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Wanda and I am a 27 year old musician from north Alabama. I have been singing my whole life and playing music since I was 10 years old, my first instrument being drums. At 12 I started playing guitar, at 14 I starting busking which lead to getting real gigs in my early teen years. At 16, I started writing songs and by 19 I had two self-released and produced albums under my belt. I formed The Wanda Band in 2019 with my drummer Nick Recio and my bassist Andrew Sharpe. We have released one album called “One-Hit” and are currently working on a sophomore release to be out later this year with support of Single Lock Records.

I wouldn’t be where I am without the environment I grew up in here in north Alabama. Muscle Shoals was just 60 miles down the road so I grew up going to music and arts festivals like WC Handy Jazz Festival in Florence and the Panoply Arts Festival in Huntsville. I was able to perform at all ages venues back then so and now I work to continue that opportunity for aspiring young musicians like I myself once was. I host an all ages open mic night and I host all ages house shows in Huntsville with a lot of help from my community.

I feel what sets me apart from others is nothing more than gumption. It is my goal to look at the environment around me and ask, “How can we bring people together in a meaningful way?” Instead of wondering why certain things aren’t happening around me, I try my best to make things I want a reality. And I always want to share that joy with people because that’s why I do it. My motto of life is “Start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can.”

What I want people to know about me is I consider The Wanda Band to not only be me and my bandmates but everyone who supports us. Our produce Jay is in the Wanda Band, our fans who sing along at shows, anybody who supports us in a part of this thing. My goal is to create genuine real community through music and that desire has manifested itself with the Wanda Band fan base. I wouldn’t be where I am without every bit of support I have received.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part about what I do is seeing the impact. Knowing that I can’t control how my art effects people is one of the reasons I continue to create. Even if I am not sure exactly what I am writing or singing about, I trust that because the song exists, it must for a reason and maybe I can speak to someone when I sing it tonight. Having seen the response I’ve gotten by people who come up to me after shows, I really feel like on a fundamental level, what I do in some way matters to people. People sometimes need to be told how they feel and singers have the ability to channel something beyond this realm that can really resonate with and connect an audience.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I had used the people around me early on as a resource in a bigger way. I was making my first album at 17 alone in my bedroom and while I did call on my dad to play bass and a friend of mine to sing backups, I mostly made that by myself and then planned a release party and everything solo. I was solo for so long and it wasn’t until almost 10 years into my music career that I started learning about the power of community. Bands are so cool and fun to be a part of, having a great producer with ideas is so essential, hiring visual artists is fun. It’s nice we live in a world with accessible technology to where we truly could do it all on our own, I just wish I had collaborated more earlier on.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wandaband.com
• Instagram: thewandaband

Image Credits
photos by Andrea Belk