Willson was raised as a Jehovah's Witness in Scotland as well as in Bishop's Stortford in England. As a kid, he was not permitted to attend school assemblies, birthday parties or Christmas celebrations. Willson was worried throughout his childhood that his voice was too high so he didn't begin singing until his late twenties, and he originally wanted to be a visual artist. He has been based in Edinburgh since 1996.
Musical career
Willson began his solo musical career at age 30, after one of his close friends died and his wife bought him a guitar for his 30th birthday. As Withered Hand, the first song he wrote was Cornflake. Willson studied at Art College in London, and moved to Edinburgh with his then-girlfriend, to whom he is now married, in 1996. Shortly thereafter, Willson tried his hand at being a visual artist, but eventually abandoned his work inthe field. He attributes this in part to his "lack of success in expressing myself visually." He was guitarist in Edinburgh band Barrichello, which he joined in 1999. This band broke up amicably in 2002. His second band was known as Squits, and later became a short-lived art rock group named Peanut. He was also a member of the short lived anti-folk group The Love Gestures alongside Cammy Watt of Enfant Bastard and Neil Pennycook of Meursault. Willson has said that his upbringing as a Jehovah's Witness "gave fledgling artistic temperament a lot to think about", and that since he was taught that the world would end very soon, he began to "read everything as a sign". The first song he ever wrote as Withered Hand was "Cornflake." He has cited Teenage Fanclub and Eugenius as two of the bands he listened to most often growing up, and as the reason why he was so glad that Eugenius' frontman Eugene Kelly appeared on New Gods. Willson, in fact, named his son after Kelly. Withered Hand was an active member of the Fence Collective and its offshoot the Alter EgoTrading Company, making appearances at their Fife based events The World Tour of Crail and Bunfight at the OK Karail. He has toured with the likes of James Yorkston, Frightened Rabbit, Rozi Plain, King Creosote and Samantha Crain.
Reception
has named Withered Hand as one of his favourite artists, and has had him perform sessions on his show, BBC Radio 6 Music. Robert Christgau has also written favorable reviews of both his albums, naming Good News the 14th best album of 2011 and New Gods the 3rd best album of 2014.
Band
Willson's most recent band consisted of, in addition to him, Malcolm Benzie of Edinburgh band eagleowl, Fraser Hughes and Alun Thomas of The Leg. They are also occasionally joined by Pam Berry of 90s US band Black Tambourine and various former members of the Second Hand Marching Band. Previous members include Hannah Shepherd & Neil Pennycook of Meursault.
