Today we’d like to introduce you to Fletch Wiley.
Hi Fletch, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Music has been my life. From growing up in Seattle in the 60’s (a great town for music even back then. Quincy Jones and Jimi Hendrix, plus a vibrant jazz scene), to moving to Denton, Texas in 1965 (the still-great University of North Texas; home of the One O’clock Jazz Band), my wife and I have been blessed to live the vagabond life of a musician.
We moved to Austin in 2010 to be close to kids and grandkids, but if you’re a musician you never retire. I still play almost every week, either with my jazz group (JJ Plasencio, Mike Koenig, and Greg Giacona). Dysfunktion Junction, or at church (LifeAustin). There are great players here in every style of music, and the clubs are opening up again, thankfully.
I still arrange and produce a fair amount of mostly Christian music, and Assembly Line Studios in Dripping Springs is my first choice in recording in Austin. Whether it’s arranging for a full orchestra, string quartet, or a funky horn section for our church, I love arranging (and producing).
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There are always challenges; COVID is just the latest. Being a musician can create it’s own set of hardships, mostly financially (you need to be 3 or 4 different people: a solid musician who can play all styles of music, a booking agent, a business person, and a psychologist to your musicians). I love it!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m very proud of working with the band Andrae Crouch and the Disciples. I arranged most of “Take Me Back”, a record that won a Grammy for Soul Gospel. That launched my career as an arranger. I’ve worked on 15 different Children’s records, two that were nominated for a Grammy in the Children’s category (“Music Machine II” and “Bullfrogs and Butterflies II”).
And working with great musicians around the world (London Philharmonic, Budapest Symphony, Nashville musicians) makes life very easy; and fun!
What do you like and dislike about the city?
Austin has great restaurants, and the downtown area is still small in comparison to Houston or Dallas. And it’s easy to get out to the Hill Country.
Contact Info:
- Email: fletch.wiley@gmail.com
- Website: www.fletchwiley.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fletch.wiley/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fletch+wiley
Image Credits:
Bill Grine (Andrae Crouch and the Disciples, “Take Me Back”)
