A church classroom where kids learned to speak in tongues sits at the heart of Stephen Wilson Jr.’s newest song. The Indiana-born, Nashville-based rising star released “Preacher’s Kid” today, the follow-up to his single “Gary,” currently sitting in the Top 40 on Billboard’s Country Airplay Chart. The new track digs into small-town memory and faith, drawn from a true story about exorcisms before lunch and a crying youth pastor who once preached an impending Armageddon.
Wilson Jr. wrapped real autobiography around the song, describing a world where the worldly was forbidden and a small town could feel like a world within a world. His writing turns the underbelly of a complicated upbringing into compelling storytelling, broken and conflicted in the way he says we all are.
The momentum keeps building. Last month he took home his first ACM Award for Visual Media of the Year for the video for “Cuckoo,” co-directed with longtime collaborator Tim Cofield. Their ninth collaboration arrived this year with the video for “Gary,” starring award-winning actor Gary Sinise. Wilson Jr. premiered that single with a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, then carried it to This Past Weekend with Theo Von and The Howard Stern Show.
The road ahead is packed. Wilson Jr. plays Railbird Music Festival this weekend before returning to Nashville for a CMA Fest performance at Nissan Stadium. His headline Gary The Torch Tour runs through the US and Europe, alongside stops on the Outlaw Music Festival, a Dave Matthews Band support slot at the Gorge on September 4, and three nights backing Brandi Carlile at Red Rocks. The run closes with two Nashville shows at The Truth on December 11 and 12.
It’s a vivid, fearless single from a writer who keeps mining his own history for songs that hit deep.
2026 Tour Dates:
6/6 – Lexington, KY – Railbird Music Festival
6/7 – Nashville, TN – CMA Fest (LP Field)
6/20 – San Diego, CA – KSON Countryfest
6/26 – Chelmsford, UK – State Fayre
6/30 – Dublin, IE – Summer Series
7/3 – Irving, TX – Outlaw Music Festival
7/4 – Austin, TX – Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic
7/5 – Woodlands, TX – Outlaw Music Festival
7/10 – St. Paul, MN – Minnesota Yacht Club Festival
7/11 – Winnipeg, MB – Winnipeg Folk Festival
7/17 – Spokane, WA – BECU Live at Northern Quest
7/18 – Whitefish, MT – Under the Big Sky Festival
7/23 – Floyd, VA – FloydFest
7/24 – Virginia Beach, VA – The Dome by Rutter Mills
7/25 – Baltimore, MD – Pier Six Pavilion
8/7 – St. Augustine, FL – St. Augustine Amphitheatre
8/8 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater
8/18 – Maryland Heights, MO – Outlaw Music Festival
8/21 – East Troy, WI – Outlaw Music Festival
8/22 – Clarkston, MI – Outlaw Music Festival
8/23 – Noblesville, IN – Outlaw Music Festival
8/25 – Tinley Park, IL – Outlaw Music Festival
8/28 – Wantagh, NY – Outlaw Music Festival
8/29 – Bethel, NY – Outlaw Music Festival
8/30 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Outlaw Music Festival
9/4 – George, WA – Gorge Amphitheatre (supporting Dave Matthews Band)
9/6 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
9/11–9/13 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre (supporting Brandi Carlile)
9/17 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre
9/18 – Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre SOLD OUT
9/19 – Portland, OR – McMenamins Grand Lodge (Concerts in the Grove)
9/22 – Nampa, ID – Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater
9/24 – San Francisco, CA – The Masonic
9/29 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre
10/15 – Belfast, UK – SSE Arena
10/17 – Sligo, IE – Sligo Live Festival
10/19 – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy Glasgow SOLD OUT
10/20 – Glasgow, UK – O2 Academy Glasgow
10/22 – London, UK – O2 Academy Brixton
10/23 – Bristol, UK – The Prospect Building
10/25 – Manchester, UK – O2 Victoria Warehouse
10/27 – Paris, FR – Le Trianon
10/29 – Zurich, CH – Volkshaus
10/30 – Cologne, DE – Theater am Tanzbrunnen
11/1 – Utrecht, NL – TivoliVredenburg (Ronda)
11/3 – Copenhagen, DK – VEGA
11/4 – Stockholm, SE – Fållan
11/5 – Oslo, NO – Sentrum Scene
11/20–11/22 – St. Petersburg, FL – St. Pete Country Fest
11/21 – Birmingham, AL – Avondale Brewing Company SOLD OUT
12/2 – Pittsburgh, PA – Citizens Live at The Wylie
12/9 – Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola Roxy
12/11 – Nashville, TN – The Truth SOLD OUT
12/12 – Nashville, TN – The Truth
1/20–23 – Cancun, MX – Dave & Tim Riviera Maya 2027