by Ari Roth
Wolf Critton is a New York born, Connecticut-based singer and songwriter who plays acoustic guitar and sings songs that are brilliantly honest and emotionally open. I spoke to Critton about the influence of the military on his work, his new songs, touring, connecting with listeners, and what the future might hold.
Critton says that he has “always been poetic,” and he “used to win competitions writing poetry,” giving him an early grounding in lyricism and the written word, a talent that he has certainly brought to his current musical project. Growing up in Harlem, he “used to listen to rap music mores than anything else in the world.” Nonetheless, it wasn’t until he was deployed as a soldier overseas in Iraq that he first began playing and composing music on his own.
His time serving in the military had a significant impact on him both as an artist and as a human being. “In Iraq we [our whole unit] saw a lot of things, we worked in the hospitals, we did a lot of convoys. I’ve saluted a lot of bodies of fellow comrades and fallen soldiers,” Critton tells me. “What happened with me out there was I started to kind of close off and lose touch with myself as a human being. One of the guys in my unit noticed that and gave me a guitar. It just grew on me and it started to bring back those feelings and that soul that I had, back into my life.”
Critton did not initially set out to be a public figure and a musician, and he tells me that his music is very private, something that “started out as a therapy for me, to cope, and one thing led to another and it ended up on the news, and it ended up on the radio, and it just kept going. Every day I play, it’s still more of a therapy for me than anything else.”
Along with songs such as “Iraq” that are explicitly about his time in the military, that experience also inspired other topics in his songwriting. Speaking about new single “China Doll”, Critton describes how “I’ve known a lot of women in my life through the military, that had some really bad relationships, and they shared their stories with me. That song was about going into the feeling of not agreeing with the level of domestic violence in couples right now. It’s a really common thing, and it’s not really talked about as much as it should be. That was my way of talking about it.” Choosing to delve into such generally unspoken topics with bravery and directness is a hallmark of Critton’s songwriting, and it is part of what makes him so unique.
Confirming that there is a new album recorded and ready to be released, Critton reflects on his last album, 2012’s Wolves Cove, which he regards as a process of working to understand the industry and himself as an artist. “Wolves Cove was the beginning stages of me as an artist, so it was more of a publishing and copyright thing, learning the business, and learning how to sing. That was the beginning of what I’m doing now.”
Now, he is releasing new songs (a thirty second clip of an unreleased track has already gained over 4,000 views in five days), and he is gearing up to release his second album, which he says will be out in less than two months. The recording is finished, and he says that it’s “only a matter of showing it to the right people” before it can be shared with the rest of the world.
Speaking about the new material, Critton seems ready to open up his music, to make it inclusive and universal, a step forward from the introspective and deeply personal music of his last album. He tells me, “it started as a therapy, so I was really just playing off of my own impulses, my own thoughts, more in a selfish way, I guess you could say. It was for me. And then, when I realized that the music was reaching other people, I started to write music that everybody can relate to, that everybody can grow from or heal from. That’s what the inspiration of this album is. It’s about reaching everybody that’s having a hardship, and not just myself anymore. I’m not alone in this, and I went out to people to let them know that they’re not alone.”
Despite all of the excitement building around the release of new studio material, Critton clearly relishes touring heavily and playing live. The thrill of his music comes from its ability to speak directly to listeners, and there’s no better way to do that than through live performance. He says that he’s “never considered myself a recording artist more so than a live artist, which is why I like acoustic music. I don’t even play with a pick, I play with my hands, I like the intimacy of it. I like talking to people one on one, I’m a social type of guy. So, touring for me is the best thing an artist can possibly do, to really connect with people, and to grow, to learn about your music, and learn what people like and don’t like.” Critton clearly believes that his songs do not begin and end in a recording booth, and they take on new life and significance once performed in front of an audience.
This element of connection is clearly crucial for Critton, even if it’s just to a few people, as long as it makes a difference to them. He describes playing a show “in front of 2000 people once, and five people came up to me and said they liked it, and I was blown away, ecstatic that I was just able to reach five people. It’s not about how many people I can get, it’s about who I get, it’s about who grows from it, who heals with it along with me.” This truth is at the heart of Wolf Critton’s music. It isn’t about reaching as many people as possible, but about reaching the few who need it, those whose lives it will enrich.
Despite all of the exciting prospects on the horizon, Critton remains open to chance and the unpredictable future, telling me “My favorite quote is, ‘if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.'” He reflects that key moments in his career, such as meeting actor Nick Cannon and Guns N’ Roses guitarist Bumblefoot, could have never been planned, and he seems happy to simply “go where the music takes me, and enjoy the journey.” It is clear that Wolf Critton’s music is taking him somewhere truly special, and he is sure to soon gain more fans to enjoy the journey with him.
