Georgia-bred singer and songwriter Channing Wilson has built a career on honesty—unvarnished, clear-eyed, and rooted in the lived-in stories that define real country music. A writer’s writer with a knack for turning life’s bruises into something beautiful, Wilson has penned songs for major artists like Luke Combs and earned the respect of legends including Steve Earle, Billy Joe Shaver, and Guy Clark. Now, he’s stepping into a new era—one that extends from the writer’s room to television screens across America.

Wilson is currently a contestant on CBS’s The Road, the new music-competition docuseries executive-produced by Taylor Sheridan and Blake Shelton. The show places emerging artists in the spotlight as they chase breakthrough moments on—and off—the stage, and Wilson’s soulful grit and storytelling have quickly made him a standout. His music will also appear in upcoming episodes of Sheridan’s new CBS/Paramount+ series Y:Marshals and Landman introducing his voice to an even wider audience.

Before the cameras, Wilson carved out his place the old-school way: by writing great songs and singing them with conviction. His debut album, Dead Man, produced by eight-time Grammy winner Dave Cobb, captures the raw strength of his songwriting with a timeless, bare-bones sound. Recorded as the first project in Cobb’s Savannah studio, Dead Man features a top-tier band and echoes the spirit of classic country without ever feeling nostalgic. For Wilson, the intention was simple: “Just capture the song the way it should be.”