WILL VARLEY

Will Varley is a singer songwriter from Deal on the UK’s Kent coast

He is influenced by the great American and Canadian songwriters of the 1960’s and 70’s including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and Tracy Chapman.

He has gone from selling 60 tickets to his first album launch in 2014 to headlining London’s 2000 capacity Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 2018.

Over the last few years he has sold out shows in Germany, The Netherlands, Austria and Denmark as well as in numerous cities across the UK.

He has toured across the USA and Europe opening for Billy Bragg, Valerie June, Frank Turner and The Proclaimers amongst others.

His 6th Studio album ‘The Hole Around My Head‘ was released in 2021. It has since been streamed over 1 Million times on Spotify.

In March 2023 Will embarked on a headline tour across the UK. Every single show sold out.

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FULL BIOGRAPHY

In late 2020, when the late Phil May of The Pretty Things (Cited as an influence by David Bowie and Jimmy Hendrix) began curating songs for what would become the band’s final studio album, amongst covers of songs by Muddy Waters and Sheryl Crowe, May included a number by Will Varley. In becoming a fan of the troubadour from Kent he joined an army of followers that has been growing steadily across the globe for last ten years and includes the likes of Billy Bragg, Skin from Skunk Anansie and Adam Duritz from Counting Crows, all of whom consider Will to be one of the finest songwriters of his generation.

There is a depth to Will’s songwriting and lyrics that sets him apart, and has propelled his music far and wide. Whether it’s a love song to nostalgia like ‘Seven Days’, or a more troubling subject like ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’ which tells the heart-wrenching story of an Angolan immigrant attempting to enter the UK, to the hyper-engaging ‘Weddings and Wars’ in which he attempts a history of the world in under four minutes. Varley’s songs seem to transcend themselves, marrying vivid imagery, emotion and surrealism to capture his musings in a way that is quite remarkable.

When the lockdown hit he honed his skills as a producer, producing the single ‘Hit And Run’ for multi platinum artist Eagle Eye Cherry. He also entered Nashville’s International Songwriting Competition (Judged by Tom Waits and Coldplay amongst others), sending in his entry after a night of drinking. From over 20,000 entries Will’s song came in 3rd.

Over the past few years Will has toured relentlessly across Europe and America as support act for Frank Turner, Valerie June and The Proclaimers and he’s sold out his own headline shows in cities as far a field as Berlin, Zurich, and Vienna. in 2017 Billy Bragg invited him to perform at his Leftfield stage at Glastonbury Festival and soon after took him on tour as his support act. Further high praise from the likes of Tim Minchin, Donovan, and Simon Nicol of Fairport Convention have helped fan the flames, as his audience continues to grow both on the road and online. Since his self released debut album in 2011, and subsequent releases via Xtra Mile Recordings, Will has sold tens of thousands of albums around the world. His self made music videos have clocked up millions of views on YouTube and the song ‘Seize The Night’ alone has had almost four and a half million plays on Spotify. His latest album was produced by Cameron McVey (Massive Attack, Portishead, Sugababes, Neneh Cherry) and mastered by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road Studios in London

In February 2023 Will signed a worldwide record deal with MNRK Music Group, who over the years have been home to the likes of Chuck Berry, Townes Van Zandt and The Lumineers. His music has been played extensively on 6Music, Radio X and Radio 1. His albums have reached number two in the iTunes Singer Songwriter charts in the UK, number three in Germany and made the top 20 in the US.

So far this year Will has completed a totally sold out UK tour and appeared at SXSW in Austin and The Great Escape Festival in Brighton. In the coming months, in between working on his 7th studio album he will appear at numerous festivals including Glastonbury, SXSW Sydney and Reeperbahn in Germany.

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