Waylon Collins – Winner of Ozarks Got Singers

Story and photo by Jody Shackelford
Waylon Collins had his first taste of the stage with the Ozark’s Got Singers Competition and the flavor of the screaming crowd is the new spice of his life. Like most 17-year-olds, Waylon was considering how he would make his way in life. His passion is hunting and fishing, something he hoped would turn into a career in outdoor entertainment television. That was before he receiving the thrill of throwing it all down on the stage and being lifted back up by the thunder of applause.
Waylon Collins, Winner of Ozarks Got Singers

With a voice that shares many qualities with Jason Aldean, and even Arkansas’ Justin Moore, his recent win has fostered new attention to the true level of his abilities. He says spearheading a career in music is to tempting to pass up.
Waylon is currently working to put his senior year of high school to bed, in a non traditional style. Waylon has attended local high schools including Izard County Consolidated, Highland and Salem, but now he is getting his education on his schedule as a home school student. With the new direction he is taking in his life, he is working to have it lend to his success.
Growing up, the massive music culture in northern Arkansas didn’t pass Waylon by.
“Music has been an important part of my life, listening to Johnny Cash sing that Fulsome Prison Blues. Performing is something I have found a love for now. Especially, after my first, ‘Concert,’ little deal. It was such a trip,” he said.

After winning the Ozark’s Got Singers competition he was placed on the marquee to perform a concert at Horseshoe Bend’s Music in the Ozarks theater.
“I did three acoustic songs and three with the band. Me and the band only had one day, a Wednesday, to practice and only for an hour. We got the songs down fairly good. But Saturday, when we performed, we flat brought down the house. It was amazing,” Waylon beamed.
Few will argue that Waylon’s best instrument is his voice but vocal chords aren’t the only thing he knows how to strum.
“I play multiple instruments. Guitar, piano, banjo, mandolin, but the guitar is my top instrument.”
“I started playing when I was six. I watched him a little bit and he taught me the three main chords of country music – C, D and G. I learned it all myself from there,” he said.
Music had always been a big part of Waylon’s day to day but it was at Ozark’s Got Singers that he found direction.
“I am big into hunting and fishing. I mean big, that is what I am a pro at. That is what I have wanted to do all my life. But that first concert I did, it blew everything out of the ball park. I mean, nothing is anything anymore – doctor, lawyer, none of that. When you play your first concert and you get all those people off their butts and they’re screaming, ‘Whoooo! Encore!”, it flat rocks,” he said.
“I heard about Ozarks Got Singers on the radio, there were flyers, posters, I had friends in it, my brother Josh Powers was in it. My best friend Josh Nelson, my friend Ashley Orosz was in the competition. Initially I wasn’t going to sign up. I thought, if I didn’t win I might wind up going out of there mad or something. But, I was like, you know what, I am going to go in there and just be myself. I went in there and nailed some songs and got it done,” he said.
When Waylon sang in competition for the first time and saw the reaction of the audience it was life changing.
“My first thought was, ‘Whoa! Howdy, nice to meet y’all!” he said laughing.
“It is because of this competition that I am thinking more musically. Like I said a while ago, hunting was something I have wanted to do all my life for a living; have my own T.V. show and possibly start a guide service. But I pick up a guitar every other day and write a song or just something. I’d write and think, I just didn’t know what I want to do yet. Years go by and Ozarks Got Singers comes up, I thought heck, its only $20 bucks. I’ll get in it,” he said.
Now with the confidence to go forward, Waylon is looking ahead to his next competition, the Colgate Country Showdown in Little Rock. With his papers all in order for CCS, an appearance on the Gene Williams Show in Branson and a single in the works, the starts are lining up for Mr. Collins. The single he is close to producing with Spring River’s Doug Deforest at Paradise Studios, will look to bulldoze his way to the top of the stack in Nashville. There is no doubt that Waylon can do great cover songs, but he is excited to strut his stuff with his own original work.
“I am excited to work with Doug. My friend Jerry Reed from Cherokee Village worked with him. He said he went in and layer down the guitar and then the vocals, came back an week later and the CD was unbelievable,” Waylon said. “I am really psyched about that.”
There is an audition on the books for a Nashville record label, a fantastic opportunity that has incredible potential.
“We have a deal to perform for BMI Records next month in Nashville. I am going to get to sing for them once, really try out,” he said.
Waylon says his biggest influence in country music had his fair share of tryouts before he made it to our FM dials, and like him a little determination can go a long way.
“I like Jason Aldean in case you didn’t notice. He is one of my influences about seeking the record deals because he got turned down a lot before his actual record deal. Then one record company says wow where did this kid come from, now he is blowing up the radio,” Waylon said.
Looking to make his mark in a genre close to his heart, Waylon is looking to fight his way towards the crest of success. Thanks to Ozarks Got Singers and its prize package, including among other prizes a full SRSG Magazine photo shoot and promotional photos, and a fully mastered single, Waylon will have some powerful resources to help steamroll his way to the top.
One year they repossess your truck. The next you make a couple million bucks – a line from Jason Aldean’s Crazy Town, a song close to the heart of any aspiring country music artist. Now, looking toward the future, Waylon is listening closer than ever.
“Man, that could be me doing that same thing.”