Teaches in Atlanta, GA

From Atlanta, Georgia

Plays Guitar, and Voice

About

Wes started playing music at the early age of 4, performing and writing original tunes on his red and white plastic “flutaphone” and picking out tunes on his grandparents’ piano. In 4th grade, he joined the school orchestra, choosing the viola for its rich timbre, and soon became a member of the Sandy Springs Honor Orchestra. After adding school chorus to orchestra classes, he successfully passed the rigorous audition processes for the GMEA Georgia All State events both as a baritone singer and viola player. He was also involved in a number of school musicals and drama productions, and in high school he started his first rock band “Red House” which performed at parties and teen clubs around Atlanta.

Wes began his professional music career in the fertile music ground of Athens, GA. He was the founder of “Catfish Jenkins” a rock/pop group that released their first cd “Normaltown”, (produced by Athens legend John Keane) through Birmingham, AL-based Kudzu Records.The band sold out the local 1000 seat Georgia Theater consistently and toured the country from Georgia to New York to Colorado to Michigan and back again. The band was included on the AWARE II compilation with Hootie and the Blowfish, Edwin McCain, the Verve Pipe, and Vertical Horizon which garnered them national attention. Lead track “The Wishing Time”, received college and AAA airplay, and the band toured and performed with Toad the Wet Sprocket, The Samples, Blues Traveler, Cowboy Mouth, The Freddy Jones Band, Jupiter Coyote and many others at clubs, theaters, and big festivals like Atlanta’s Music Midtown, and Birmingham’s City Stages.

After Catfish, Wes formed “Big Atomic” which released “Four Star Explosion” to rave reviews and much critical acclaim. Track three “Breathe”, placed 5th out of 10,000 entries in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, while other tracks “A Postcard” and “Evaporate” were selected by Smithereens frontman and B.E.A.M. chairman Pat DiNizio to earn a B.E.A.M. grant for emerging artists. Three songs from the album were also featured in director Ben Taylor’s feature film, “In the Flesh” that was accepted into film festivals in the U.S. and Germany and earned a national distribution deal. Even MTV recognized the band: power rocker “When Sparks Fly” was featured in the “Making of the Video” program for Brittany Spears’ “Stronger”.
After a crazy record deal shopping experience, he moved to Atlanta and re-formed Big Atomic with Marcus Petruska (Zac Brown Band, Corey Smith) and Todd Weaver. Performing 15-20 shows a month in Atlanta and around the country, they released the last Big Atomic album “Wrestling the Dragon and the Rat” in 2006.

In 2009, he released “A Voice From Home”, his first solo album, which was recorded and produced in conjunction w Aaron Thompson and ABS studios. Featuring a range of sounds and styles, it was departure into musical areas outside the traditional band framework.

Wes was also a frequent guest performer with the Southeastern Festival of Song (SEFoS) and Singers Beyond Borders, two world-class groups of classically trained musicians and opera singers that, from show to show, would perform anything from Mozart to the Beatles! He appeared in the SEFoS performances of “The Great Escape” at Emory (Atlanta), “Secrets of the Sky and Sea” in the Berkshires, MA, and was with them in Maine as part of the annual Bar Harbor music festival. In Spring 2010, He joined some of his SEFoS friends for a Singers Beyond Borders tour of Hawaii, China, and Singapore. It was an incredible 24 day VIP tour of some amazing parts of the world, and the money raised went to help children in need. He last joined this amazing group of performers in February of 2012 for a concert sponsored by the Dallas Symphony to coincide with the Jean Paul Gautier exhibit during it’s worldwide tour.

After an 8 year run as an entertainer in the world’s greatest ski bar: “The Club” (now Shakedown Bar) in Vail, CO, Wes is now teaching guitar, producing and co-writing tracks for Atlanta area artists, writing new original material, and playing around the Atlanta area as a solo and ensemble artist.
Balancing fun with theory, Wes’ teaching approach seeks to keep the study of music engaging and enriching in the moment while providing a solid foundation for those students who want to pursue more advanced music education and/or a career in the world of music.