After fronting the beloved Tempe indie band Jared and the Mill for a decade, Jared Kolesar went solo – and in a more country-fied direction – in 2021 as Wheelwright.
The project was intended as a smooth transition as his former bandmates shifted their professional priorities, but Kolesar admits that he and his new alter ego experienced some growing pains. Things began to coalesce with the release of the single “Bleeding Heart,” an earnest, declarative number that feels edgy yet homegrown.
Do you consider yourself a country artist?
I consider myself alt-country. My understanding is that it’s about taking the instrumentation of country music and applying it in your own way. I grew up on alternative rock. There was a lot of grunge, alternative and rock, so I think these things coming together are what make my sound. I don’t know the rules. I play the music that I want to make, and I guess I can let other people call it whatever they want.
Did it feel like starting over when you pivoted to Wheelwright?
That’s not how I intended for it to feel. I realized pretty quickly that I was going to have to start over. I thought it would be sort of a continuation. I didn’t expect the fall-off of fans that I ended up experiencing. People were really spooked by the name change, and I wasn’t expecting that.
Your song “Bleeding Heart” really tells people who you are. Does that come from your confidence as a songwriter?
The first couple of songs I put out, I wanted to be like The Weeknd, but a cowboy. I just couldn’t sell it. I had to take a step back and just be me. I think that people really responded to that.
– Jason Keil
