Essential Songs From the CMA New Artist Nomin

When the nominations for the 2025 CMA Awards came out, it was many mainstream country fans’ first introduction to Stephen Wilson Jr., who scored a New Artist of the Year nod.

But there’s more to Wilson Jr. than meets the eye — and not just because, at 46, he’s significantly older than the average contender in the category.

Wilson Jr. formed the indie rock group AutoVaughn during his senior year of college and spent about five years touring with the band.

After leaving the group, he stepped away from music entirely, pursuing a research and development career in a food science lab. Despite the sharp left turn — a move that provided financial security to raise his stepson — he never let go of his passion for songwriting.

He signed a publishing deal in 2016 and started releasing indie rock-flavored country singles in the late 2010s, as well as writing songs for artists like Dierks Bentley and Lori McKenna.

Much of the music Wilson was writing was inspired by his father’s death in 2018, following emergency surgery.

In processing that loss, he also began to write about his upbringing with a single father, while his mother was often absent and involved in abusive relationships.

The result was Søn of Dad, an album that explores grief, loss, and shifting identity.

Read More: 30 Country Songs About Death

The project came out in 2023, on the five-year anniversary of Wilson’s father’s death. It earned him a powerful grassroots fan base and cemented his status as an artist to watch in the Americana and indie country scenes.

Now, as he looks ahead toward the CMA Awards and beyond, Wilson is making his move into mainstream stardom.

Keep reading for Taste of Country’s primer on the essential Stephen Wilson Jr. songs every new fan should hear.