Willi Carlisle

alternative country · country · folk

Willi Carlisle is an American folk singer-songwriter, born May 29, 1989 in Kansas and based in Arkansas. He grew up in a musical household where his father played polka, an early exposure that led him toward American folk, bluegrass and country repertoire. He is a multi-instrumentalist, performing on guitar, banjo, fiddle, accordion, concertina and harmonica. Carlisle earned an MFA in poetry from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, a degree he took up specifically to sharpen his songwriting; he came to see a disconnect between contemporary poetry and ordinary readers, and turned to song as the form with the broader reach. His writing draws on traditional American folk alongside punk and country, and returns to subjects including drug use and addiction, queer life and rural American experience. He has been releasing music since 2016. His self-released debut album, To Tell You the Truth, appeared in 2018, followed by Peculiar, Missouri on Free Dirt Records in 2022. Critterland arrived in 2024 on Signature Sounds Recordings, the same year as The Magnolia Sessions, a stripped-back outdoor session recorded for Anti-Corp. Winged Victory followed on Signature Sounds in 2025, and a further album, The Universal Bubba, is announced for release on November 6, available to preorder on vinyl and CD. Between the full-lengths he has issued a steady run of standalone singles and EPs. He tours widely as a solo performer, working folk clubs, listening rooms and festival stages, where the songs are typically framed by spoken introductions and the instrument changes that his multi-instrumentalism allows.

Official site

Subscribe to this calendar

Upcoming shows