This is not the usual post. For reasons. Mainly because Ilona usually handles the blog posts. She’s better at it. But occasionally, I pop in with a post.

Today, I just wanted to talk about an artist I found recently on Spotify and really dig. A few weeks ago, I was in the pool, enjoying a nice Shiner Bock, as one does, when a song came on that I liked immediately but didn’t recognize.

Was this a New Order song I didn’t remember? Surely not. I know I’m not a smart man but I have been gifted, or cursed, with an almost encyclopedic knowledge and or memory of 80’s alternative and new wave. Sadly, it takes up most of my brain.

A few years ago something similar happened when Ilona and I were watching Lockwood and Co when Party Fears Two by the Associates came on.

We were floored. We knew it had to be old school 2nd British Invasion but neither of us could remember having heard it before.

This was like that but it ended up being a newer artist. The song I heard was Stars (feat. The Horses) which Won released in 2016.

My favorite of his songs is probably The Night Has an Alibi which came out in 2017. All of his videos are a bit odd, in the best way but this one has, intentionally or not, a distinctly Greek myth feel to it.

He also has more recent songs like Everything Fits and Faithful Heart from 2024.

Honestly, I hate that I just now heard his music and really feel like he should be huge. I don’t know what genre he would be in other than really good music. I played some of his songs for Kid 2 who also digs that kind of stuff and she in turn shared a radio station she likes. By shared I mean she messed with the car radio and turned it from 1st Wave Channel 33 to KTSW 89.9, Texas State University’s campus radio station.

While I don’t recognize a lot of the songs KTSW plays, the DJ’s don’t always tell you name of the song or the artist, and it’s kind of fun to watch her frantically Shazam it.

I’m glad she did because it took me back to being a teen and listening to WWCU 95.3, Western Carolina University’s campus station.

I put the link there because the banner of the Smokey Mountains is really pretty and sort of how I remember it.

It was great because they played music you wouldn’t normally hear that deep in the Appalachian mountains. REM, INXS, the B-52s, Oingo Boingo. You know, 80’s college radio songs.

Oddly, enough, WCU and TX ST have basically the same mascot. Ours, I am a WCU alumni, is a catamount while theirs is a bobcat but the logo is nearly identical. I wish she’d been able to experience the beauty of WCU the way her mom and I did but I reckon TX ST is close enough.

Like many Gen Xers it’s easy for me to get stuck in the 80’s and 90’s musically, for instance, I’ve been listening to a lot of Alice in Chains, specifically their MTV unplugged gig from 96.

But do yourself a favor and give Wons a listen and maybe even give your local college station, if you have one, a try. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Quick edit. I wanted to share links to Wons’ Instagram. Not sure how to link to his Spotify. If you have it, just type in Wons Phreely and it should pop up.

https://www.instagram.com/wonsphreely

The post Labor Day Odds and Sods featuring Wons Phreely first appeared on ILONA ANDREWS.