Willy Mason (born November 21, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter.

Early life

Mason was born in White Plains, New York, the son of Jemima James and Michael Mason, both songwriters. Mason is a direct descendant of the 19th-century philosopher William James, the brother of novelist

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

. When Mason was five, he and his family moved from Tarrytown, New York to West Tisbury, Massachusetts, on the island of Martha's Vineyard. He attended Chilmark Elementary School through 5th grade, West Tisbury Elementary School and Martha's Vineyard Regional High School, where he participated in several local bands such as Keep Thinking, Cultivation, and Slow Leslie. He also was in the MVRHS Minnesingers and performed in musical theater productions.

Career

Mason's first commercial release was a five-track

extended-play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

album ''G-Ma's Basement EP''. This included solo acoustic recordings of "Live It Up", "Hard Hand to Hold", "Waiter at the Station", "Not Lie Down" and "Oxygen". The album was sold during 2004 live appearances and on the internet. Mason's popularity rose after Sean Foley, an associate of musician

Conor Oberst Conor Mullen Oberst (born February 15, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, the Faint (previously named Norman Bailer), Commander Venu ...

, discovered his music on a local

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...

radio broadcast. Oberst would soon sign Mason to his new record label,

Team Love Records Team Love is an independent record label based in New Paltz, New York, founded by Conor Oberst and Nate Krenkel in 2003. It has released albums by several other recording artists. Team Love also released the documentary film by Roy Germano, Th ...

and in the summer of 2004, Mason and his brother Sam traveled to Old Soul Studios in the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...

, New York, to record

Where the Humans Eat ''Where the Humans Eat'' is the first full-length album released by American singer-songwriter Willy Mason. It was recorded in Catskill, New York in early May 2004. Songs were mostly recorded live, and feature Mason singing and playing guitar ...

. Recording sessions were mostly live, in no more than three takes, featuring Willy Mason's guitar and vocals, and Sam Mason (director) on the drums. Minimal overdubs of guitar, bass and other instruments were added later. The album was released in the U.S. in October 2004, and by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

in the United Kingdom in February 2005. The album and its singles ("Oxygen" and "So Long"), charted in the UK Singles Chart and Albums Chart in 2005. After many live appearances throughout 2004 and 2005, culminating with a performance at the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

, Mason took time off and returned to his family's home on Martha's Vineyard. He began writing new songs and put a band together, featuring

Nina Violet Nina may refer to: * Nina (name), a feminine given name and surname Acronyms * National Iraqi News Agency, a news service in Iraq *Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, on the campus of Norwegian University of Science and Technology * No income, ...

on viola and backing vocals, and Zak Borden on

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

. In early 2006, they began touring the U.S. and Europe, along with other musicians. He supported

Beth Orton Elizabeth Caroline Orton (born 14 December 1970) is an English musician, known for her "folktronica" sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations with William Orbit, Andrew Weatherall, ...

Death Cab For Cutie Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyboar ...

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

KT Tunstall Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song " Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on '' Later... with Jools Holland''. Th ...

and

Sondre Lerche Sondre Lerche (; born 5 September 1982) is a Norwegian singer, songwriter and guitarist, now based in Los Angeles, California. He has released nine studio albums. Early life Growing up in a suburb of Bergen, Lerche was heavily influenced by 1980s ...

. Mason released his second album, ''

If the Ocean Gets Rough ''If the Ocean Gets Rough'' is the second album by American singer-songwriter Willy Mason Willy Mason (born November 21, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter. Early life Mason was born in White Plains, New York, the son of Jemima ...

'', in March 2007. The same year, he also provided vocals for the track "Battle Scars" on the album '' We Are the Night'' (2007) by

The Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in Manchester in 1989. They were pioneers (along with the Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, and other acts) in bringing the big beat genre t ...

. The song "Pickup Truck", recorded live at Aboveground Records in

Edgartown Edgartown is a tourist destination on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States, for which it is the county seat. It was once a major whaling port, with historic houses that have been carefully preserved. Tod ...

, Massachusetts, is included on Radio Waves, Vol. 1, a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

of music from Martha's Vineyard, and was released on June 29, 2007, to help purchase transmitting equipment for WVVY-LP, a new

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popular ...

station. A live set at the Austin City Limits festival was also released in 2007. Mason also sang on two songs on the album ''

Hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

'' (2010) by

Isobel Campbell Isobel Campbell (born 27 April 1976) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and cellist. She rose to prominence at age nineteen as a member of the indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, but left the group to pursue a solo career, first as The Gentle Waves ...

and

Mark Lanegan Mark William Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet. First becoming prominent as the lead singer for the early grunge band Screaming Trees, he was also known as a member of Queens of the St ...

. He also featured in "No Room For Doubt", from

Lianne La Havas Lianne Charlotte Barnes (born 23 August 1989), known professionally as Lianne La Havas ( ), is a British singer-songwriter and record producer. Her career began after being introduced to various musicians, including singer Paloma Faith, for who ...

's EP "Lost & Found" (and subsequently her debut album '' Is Your Love Big Enough?''), which was released on October 21, 2011 on the

Labour of Love ''Labour of Love'' is the fourth studio album by British reggae band UB40, and their first album of cover versions. Released in the UK on 12 September 1983, the album is best known for containing the song "Red Red Wine", a worldwide number-one ...

label. He toured small venues in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland in 2011, and during the tour he recorded a live session at 80 Hertz Studios in

The Sharp Project The Sharp Project is a Manchester space hosting flexible office, production and event space. It is based in a refurbished warehouse previously occupied by electronics company Sharp. Manchester City Council purchased the former warehouse owned ...

, Manchester. The single "We Can Be Strong" was featured in the series finale of the

British sitcom A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. Most British sitcoms are recorded on studio sets, while some have an element of location filming. A handful are made almost exclusively on location ...

'' Fresh Meat' in late 2011. On September 21, 2012, Mason announced the release of his third album ''Carry On''. It was to be released on December 3, and would be his first album released on

Fiction Records Fiction Records is a British record label founded by Chris Parry in 1978, owned by Universal Music Group and based in the United Kingdom. It is best known for being the home of The Cure for over 20 years. It was originally a part of Polydor, ...

. The record was produced by Dan Carey. To accompany the album Mason played a sold-out tour of the UK in the first week of December. In November 2012, Mason toured with

Ben Howard Benjamin John Howard (born 24 April 1987) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and composer. His self-released debut EP ''Games in the Dark'' (2008) was followed by two more EPs, '' These Waters'' (2009) and '' Old Pine'' (2010). Signed t ...

as a supporting act. He also toured Australia in October 2012 with

Mumford and Sons Mumford may refer to: *Amazing Mumford, a Muppet character on ''Sesame Street'' * ''Mumford'' (film), a 1999 American comedy-drama film * Mumford procedure, also called distal clavicle excision or distal clavicle resection, an orthopedic surgical pr ...

and

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is an American folk rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2005. The group is led by singer Alex Ebert. The band's name is based on a story Ebert wrote in his youth, about a messianic figure named E ...

. He performed at Mumford and Sons' Gentlemen of the Road festivals across North America in 2013. An EP ''Don't Stop Now'' was released on Communion Records in the US on January 14, 2013, supported by a four-week tour. Communion Records released ''Carry On'' in the US in 2013. On February 5, 2013, Mason and

Brendan Benson Brendan Benson (born November 14, 1970) is an American musician and singer-songwriter. He plays guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, and drums. He has released eight solo albums and is a member of the band The Raconteurs. Recording career ''One Missi ...

put to tape ''Upstairs at United Vol. 7''. Benson produced, assembled, and conducted an arsenal of stellar musicians who graced the sacred space upstairs at United Record Pressing with seven songs all written by Mason's folk artist parents Jemima James and Michael Mason. In September 2015, Mason toured Australia as a member of the ensemble cast of "A State of Grace", a themed concert featuring the music of Tim and

Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scott Moorhead, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by ...

. Later in the year he provided vocals on

Jamie Woon Jamie Woon (born 29 March 1983) is a British singer, songwriter, and record producer signed to PMR Records. He gained widespread acclaim in 2010 for his single "Night Air", which was co-produced by Burial, following his previous independent rel ...

's single ''Celebration'' from his album ''

Making Time "Making Time" is a song by English rock band The Creation, and it was released as their debut single in 1966. It was written by Kenny Pickett (lead singer) and Eddie Phillips. The lyrics portray the experience of working in a clock factory whil ...

''.

Discography

Albums

*''

'' (2004) No. 38 UK (2005 release) *''

'' (2007) No. 33 UK, No. 60 Ireland *''Carry On'' (2012) *''Upstairs at United, Vol. 7'' - Willy Mason & Brendan Benson (2013) *''Already Dead'' (2021)

EPs

*''Untitled (G-Ma's Basement) EP'' (2004) (U.K. and U.S.) *''Hard Hand to Hold (Radiate) EP'' (2004) (U.K. only) *''Hard to Lie Down (Radiate) EP'' (2005) (U.K. only) *''Scraps (Radiate / Astralwerks) EP'' (2006) (U.S. only) *'' March 28, 2006 EP'' (2006) (worldwide) *'' It's Easy to Talk EP'' (2007) (worldwide) *''gmb01 Live Tour EP'' (2009) (U.K. only) *''So Long Baby Shoes EP'' (2010) (worldwide) *''Live at Grange Hall'' (2011) (worldwide)

Singles

*"Oxygen (Radiate)" (2005) No. 23 (U.K. only) *"So Long (Radiate)" (2005) No. 45 (U.K. only) *"Hard Hand to Hold " (2005) *"Save Myself (Radiate)" (2007) No. 42

U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

*"We Can Be Strong" feat

(Radiate)(2007) No. 52 U.K. *"Talk Me Down" (2013) *"Youth On A Spit" (2021

Other contributions

*'' WFUV: City Folk Live VII'' (2004) – "Oxygen" *''Acoustic 07'' (2007,

V2 Records V2 Records (or V2 Music; V2 being an abbreviation for Virgin 2) is a record label that was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2007 and sold to IASin 2013. In the Benelux, V2 operates separately from PIAS, as the label bought itself out from ...

) – "Oxygen" *'' The Saturday Sessions: The Dermot O'Leary Show'' (2007,

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

) – "

Careless Whisper "Careless Whisper" is a song written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. Released on the 1984 Wham! album ''Make It Big'', the single release was credited either to ''Wham! featuring George Michael'' (in North America and several other count ...

References

External links

*
2007 Interview from BBC Wiltshire

2004 article from La Blogothèque

from ''

The Reader ''The Reader'' (german: Der Vorleser) is a novel by German law professor and judge Bernhard Schlink, published in Germany in 1995 and in the United States in 1997. The story is a parable, dealing with the difficulties post-war German generations ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Willy 1984 births 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists American blues singer-songwriters American folk singers American male singer-songwriters Fiction Records artists Folk musicians from Massachusetts Folk musicians from New York (state) Living people People from Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts Singers from New York City Team Love Records artists Virgin Records artists 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Guitarists from Massachusetts Guitarists from New York City 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers Singer-songwriters from New York (state)