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Make Me A Man 4:170:00/4:17
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Beautiful Kind 3:140:00/3:14
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Unrestrained 3:410:00/3:41
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Wounded Kids 3:300:00/3:30
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Highway to the Sun 3:140:00/3:14
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Songs In The Dark 3:400:00/3:40
“"He may not be a millionaire but he sounds a lot like Cash."”
— Cam Fuller Star Phoenix
The Truth
Biography
Will Ardell's powerful and immediately recognizable voice is a testament to the expression of art and to yearning in all of all us to be heard above the din of our surroundings.
As the late Cam Fuller from the Star Phoenix said of Will's voice "He may not be millionaire but he sounds a lot like Cash"
Born and raised on the prairies of Saskatchewan the beauty and realness of rural life is brought alive in the lyrics in a way only Will Ardell can.
In 2009 Will Ardell released his first music by request, after posting some of his home demos for people to hear. Will had recorded the music on his digital recorder. He sold 1500 copies from New York to Australia!
By 2010 Will was up and running as a professional musician. Joining the Southwest Saskatchewan Country Music Tour that year and by 2011 he was off to Nashville to record with the esteemed Steve Rutledge. Will released his first record "All About the Ride" in 2012. A unique two disc Country-Rock album. The albums two videos did extremely well "Save Me", a catchy upbeat love song and "Make Me a Man" a moving lyrical tribute to his late father had combined views of over 550,000 thousand. "Save Me" was Will Ardell's first release to country radio and broke the top 40. Is it any wonder in 2013 he earned the title of 2013 SCMA Rising Star.
In 2014 Will followed up with next record "Reckless" . An album Will Ardell recorded again in Nashville with the help of some talented friends like T.W. Cargile who works with one of Will's musical idol's Jamey Johnson. The record "Reckless" has a more Americana Folk sound to it than his previous recordings, with less of a focus on traditional radio friendly music. The album still did well and continues to impact radio in the UK, Europe and Americana and online radio. "Reckless" also caught the attention of his peers in Saskatchewan and he was once again nominated for several SCMA awards including video of the year for "Ten Thousand Candles".
By the end of the 2015 music year Will Ardell had a total of 15 SCMA nominations, including Male Artist of the year and Folk Artist of the year. Clearly showing the industry acknowledges Will's great talents across the country genre. Will Ardell has been known to rock out "I'm a little tea pot" during sound check to bringing goose bumps and tears to his audiences eyes. One listener was quoted after hearing Will's latest release "His voice is hauntingly beautiful. I don't listen to country any more but I'll listen to Will Ardell. He reminds me of Johnny Cash and Waylon those guys I use to listen to with my Dad!!"
Will Ardell continues to write and record, with a beautiful and moving single released in 2016, "Breakin Fences". He recorded an album of covers at SkullCreek Studios in Saskatchewan along with the single but has yet to release it.
Will finished writing his 4th Record over the last 5 years. Starting in 2020 Ardell began releasing singles off the upcoming record "The Truth". The first single "Beautiful Kind" released in October 2020, with "Wounded Kids" and "Highway to the Sun" both released in the Spring of 2021. "Unrestrained" released in Autumn 2021 was embraced by international radio. Ardell's most current release "Songs In The Dark" is making a stir amongst his peers and international radio. Real Raw Authentic has and is Will Ardell's anthem, regardless of music trends. Whether on the stage or on the radio, Will Ardell's music will stir something deep within the listeners soul.
"The Truth" is set to be released later in 2022.
Awards and Nominations
"winning awards is always nice but reaching my audience is most important to me" Will Ardell
-2013 SCMA 5 nominations
-Song of the Year
-Single of the Year
-Album of the Year
-Video of the Year
-Rising Star
Rising Star *won
-2014 SCMA 5 nominations
-Male artist of the year
-Song of the year
-Single of the year
-Video of the year
5 Nominations in 2015 including:
-Male Vocalist of the year
-Roots artist of the year
-Album of the year
-Video of the Year
Shows of Note
- DogPatch Festival Saskatchewan
- HillBilly Boogie Festival
- Creation of Blackbird Sessions (songwriter session tours Sask and Alberta)
Sample track
Press links
“"No matter what your taste is in music, there is no denying Will Ardell’s music is catchy and incredibly uplifting. I absolutely love Country Music. To me Country music isn’t about just singing a song with a twang, It’s about telling a story from the depths of your soul, drawing people in, wanting more and Will Ardell does that perfectly in each of his songs. Will has a very powerful, distinct voice. His lyrics are authentic and come from the heart and his own personal life experiences. When you can hear the someones heart in their music, you know you have a winner, and Will Ardell is a definitely a winner."”
— Tasha Castgna