Artist Profile: Kurt Lee Wheeler

By Ellen Samsell Salas

Kurt Lee Wheeler’s childhood was filled with music, at his Lathemtown home and Hightower Church, which he says he started attending nine months before he was born.

“There was always a lot of singing, a lot of dancing, and a lot of love,” Wheeler said. “We’d tear up the linoleum on the kitchen floor from clogging then tear up the new floor that followed.”

Wheeler, who taught himself to play guitar when he was a teen, says he’s probably been making up music all his life. Now, decades later, the singer/songwriter and Creekland MS history teacher entertains audiences through both his live performances and his LP’s, the most recent of which, On Our Way, was released in fall 2021.

Without any formal training in music theory, Wheeler soaks up styles that he likes, blending them into a mix of country, alt-country, bluegrass, rock, and jam band — whatever fits the story his words are telling.

“I want the music to reflect the lyrics, mirror what’s going on in my soul,” he explained.

Though many of his songs are autobiographical, he said, “I never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” All ring true in singing about life’s joys as well as its sorrows.

“Til Death Is the End,” an ode to his parents who have been married 62 years, grew from Wheeler’s memory of being a ring bearer as a boy. The song touches listeners with its message of lasting love and the pain of the inevitable end to that love. Other cuts, such as “17 Forever” and “Somehow It Ended,” also capture the poignancy of lost youth and lost love.

Central to Wheeler’s music are his Cherokee County roots.

“They inform everything about my music,” Wheeler said. “From the church gospel vibe, to farmin’ dirt and gettin’ close to the earth, and we’ve got some rockin’ people in this county. What comes out of me reflects me.”

Wheeler’s songs emanate from deep within his soul. “Wherever I am, they just come to me. Sometimes I dream them. I hear them then go into the closet and hum them,” he said.

For “83, 53, 23,” a song about his grandfather, father, and himself, Wheeler said, “I was just driving down the road. I pulled off and hummed the song into the phone. If you look at my phone, you’ll see hundreds of ideas, lyrics, and tunes.”

When singing about lost love, Christmas memories, or the pain of divorce or cancer – whether a cappella or with a rousing fiddle, piano, bass, or drums joining in to inspire listeners to get up and dance – Wheeler hopes he takes his audience back to moments in their lives.

“Most stories,” he said, “are most people’s stories but at a different address.” In singing those stories, Wheeler feels he is serving people.

“It’s a great opportunity to serve. I feel like I’m pouring my soul into them. I want to give people hope, to plant hope, to let people know they’re not alone,” Wheeler said. “I hope I can take them to a place where they can remember, revive, restore, and find a respite for their souls,”

He is most gratified when after a performance, someone comes to him and says, “Hey, you were singing my childhood.”

Fans can catch Wheeler at the Canton Theatre on March 26 or at one of his other appearances throughout the county.

Visit KurtLeeWheelerMusic.com for more information.