Most people would agree that the quad is one of JMU’s finest features. On an uncharacteristically warm, sunny day in February, it can attract so many occupants that a visitor might wonder whether an outdoor concert is about to take place.
But how many people can credit the quad for sparking a college singing career that would land them on a Spotify playlist boasting 90,000 followers just one year later?
Riley Whisler can.
Although Whisler has been playing guitar and writing songs since middle school, he refused to sing in front of others. “People would try to get me to sing since I was always playing the guitar, and I would really want to, but I didn’t have confidence that I had that great of a voice.”
Whisler concedes, “I remember sitting in my bed when I was younger and thinking, ‘I wish I could sing.’”
It wasn’t until his freshman year at JMU, in a dorm room on the quad, that Riley began to realize that his wish may have been a reality all along.
Although he didn’t bring his guitar to school, a friend of his who lived in Wampler Hall had a guitar that he could play—on one condition.
“She said, ‘You can’t come and play the guitar unless you sing for me.’ So, I sang for her. And she said, ‘You’re really good and you need to start singing in front of people.’ Then she brought more friends in and had me sing.”
One short year later, Whisler is an officially verified artist on Spotify with 58,000 monthly listeners. In other words, he now has that coveted blue check mark beside his name and approximately three times as many followers as students at JMU.
It wasn’t too long after that fateful night in Wampler that Whisler released his first single, “Black Sheep” to Spotify and iTunes. The simple fact that his music could be heard and purchased by his friends, or even strangers, was exciting for him.
Then he began working on his EP “Dancing Sound” which was released last November, right before finals. His EP consists of five songs that he wrote, sang, recorded and produced — all while being a full-time student.
“Doing it all yourself, every stage of it — all the writing, all the production on the computer, and then putting it out for people to hear–it’s a vulnerable thing.”
His vulnerability paid off. Shortly after the EP’s release, Whisler’s song “Home” was put into a German playlist called “Acoustic Winter,” which had 90,000 followers.
While many artists have to wait a year or two to get put in a playlist, Whisler’s music was placed in a popular playlist within a month. He humbly explains, “There’s a lot of people out there trying to make it— touring around the country—that don’t have half as many Spotify plays, and I’m sitting in my room doing accounting… I was just really lucky to get put in that playlist.”
At one point, his song was right next to Coldplay’s “Yellow” on the playlist.
“I screenshotted it,” Whisler says. “I didn’t feel like I deserved to be next to them. I still don’t. It’s just like a bonus. I just feel very blessed, I guess, to be able to see that.”
A couple of weeks ago, “Home” was added to yet another playlist, “Acoustic Spring.” His song now has 307,000 listens.
“I can’t really get my head around the fact that song has been listened to by that many people, considering I thought it was the least favorite off the E.P. It was supposed to be the chill song in the middle.”
Perhaps “Home” is the widespread favorite because it’s the song Whisler most resonates with. He explains, “Home means a lot to me because it’s about finding comfort in something that’s constant—it doesn’t have to be a place or a person. But when you find that thing, whatever it is, you don’t half-ass it. You don’t half-ass loving someone.”
He recently released a new single, “Running Out of Places to Go.” Unlike the EP’s chill, folksy vibe, Whisler’s new song is “very upbeat and a little bit more electronic.”
Whisler isn’t interested in branding himself a one-genre artist. He offers, “I think successful artists produce things that reach beyond the genre they’re in. I feel like as long as my sound is always honest to who I am and my abilities, that’s my sound.”
When asked if he wants to make music his full-time career, Whisler replies, “No. I just enjoy being able to do both the college thing and this music thing that I love. If I had a choice to get a million dollars and have no one hear a song, or get a million plays and no money, I would choose no money.”
It’s been quite a year since Whisler strummed his friend’s guitar and timidly sang in a dorm room on the quad. When asked if he ever anticipated this popularity of his music, Whisler shakes his head and looks down before replying, “Never in my wildest dreams. If someone told me two years ago that I would have music on Spotify and a song with ¼ million plays, I would have said ‘No.’ Obviously you want people to hear your music, but when you become a verified artist and get plays… it’s crazy.”