Becky Wiles' Free Kind of Me
Becky Wiles, a country/folk singer/songwriter based in Oregon, Wisconsin (near Madison), has won the SongwriterUniverse "Best Song Of The Month" Contest for her song, "Free Kind of Me." This song is included on her debut album, Free Kind of Me, which she released independently last month (August 2022).
Wiles began playing piano at age six and started writing songs when she was 10. Her music has been inspired by such favorite artists as Natalie Merchant, Indigo Girls, the Chicks and Crosby, Stills & Nash. "I was attracted to folk harmonies and acoustic music," she said.
She attended the University of Madison at Wisconsin, where she majored in piano performance before graduating with a bachelor's degree in journalism. She then served in the Peace Corps for two years and lived in Poland during that time. Upon her return to the U.S., she earned an MBA at the UW-Madison School of Business and is now president of the UPH-Meriter Health Foundation.
In 2021, Wiles turned her focus back to songwriting and performing live. She was encouraged by Roy Elkins, founder & CEO of popular music site Broadjam, to record her debut album, Free Kind of Me and referred her to producer Jake Johnson.
On her return to music, Wiles said, "I wrote 'Free Kind of Me' in 2021. It's a song about coming back to your true free self, without any layers of worldly expectations, or settling that has been done to please others; the peeling off of everything that doesn't belong in your life. It's returning to the most authentic version of yourself."
Currently, Wiles is promoting her new album, and she's been busy playing live shows in Wisconsin. She also hopes to place her songs in films and TV shows, and to write songs for other artists.
--Dale Kawashima, SongWriterUniverse, September 2022