Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you exciting, new tunes with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, rising star Waylon Wyatt takes on the role of a lovesick teen in his 2024 ballad, "Arkansas Diamond."
A native of Hackett, AR (pop. 850), and still in high school, Wyatt compares the object of his affection to an Arkansas diamond, a symbol of beauty and perfection. He's head-over-heels in love with a local girl, but he knows that she's way out of his league.
He sings, "Smile brighter than them Arkansas diamonds / Dreams bigger than a Texan's horizon / Lord knows a poor man like me would do anything / 'Cause her love is what I'm pining / Cut nice, polished and shining / A gem like you is hard finding / So I'll keep on digging for this Arkansas diamond."
We have to assume that Wyatt has a special connection to Arkansas diamonds. From his home near the Arkansas-Oklahoma border, it's only a 2 1/2-hour drive to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, AR, where amateur miners get to keep what they find at the only diamond site in the world that’s open to the general public.
“Arkansas Diamond,” which he originally recorded in the kitchen of his family home, features Wyatt on acoustic guitar. The song is the second track of his 2024 debut EP titled Til the Sun Goes Down.
To date, the song has garnered 54.5 million Spotify streams, an impressive number amplified by Wyatt's recent appearance on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Wyatt said to the Late Show audience, "This song is Arkansas Diamond and even though I play this song a lot it doesn't take away from the fact that I am so thankful for it, because without this song I wouldn't be where I am today."
The rising star is adamant about maintaining his no-frills, acoustic arrangements inspired by country music artists, such as Tyler Childers and Zach Bryan.
“I don’t want a lot of production in my music,” Wyatt told countrytown.com. “That’s not what I’m looking for. I love the raw sound – the raw vocals, raw guitar, raw acoustic. Nothing overlaid on it.”
Wyatt signed a deal in August of 2023 with Music Soup and Darkroom Records, a label best known for signing a 14-year-old Billie Eilish in 2015.
Still a few months away from graduating high school, Wyatt will be dividing his time between his studies and touring. The young star has performances scheduled from March through June in the following cities: Toronto, ON; Nashville, TN; Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; Lexington, KY; Chicago, IL; Minneapolis, MN; Omaha, NE; Kansas City, MO; Dallas, TX; Georgetown, TX; Fort Smith, AR; Indio, CA; West Hollywood, CA; Morrison, CO; Panama Beach, FL; and New York, NY.
Please check out the video of Wyatt performing "Arkansas Diamond." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…
"Arkansas Diamond"
Written and performed by Waylon Wyatt.
Call her up in the middle of the morning
5 o'clock on the dot without a warning
Pouring my heart out into the phone
Half awake and barely asleep
Hours spent listening to her dreams
'Cause hearing that voice makes me feel at home
Well, it's a blessing just to know her name
Sparkle in her eyes can put stars to shame
And it's a wonder if she'll ever think twice
On a wretch like me, wouldn't that be nice?
Smile brighter than them Arkansas diamonds
Dreams bigger than a Texan's horizon
Lord knows a poor man like me would do anything
'Cause her love is what I'm pining
Cut nice, polished and shining
A gem like you is hard finding
So I'll keep on digging for this Arkansas diamond
She lives her life wild and free
Doesn't know what she means to me
Doesn't have a single clue in the world
But she'll always have my heart
No matter where we are
It'll always belong to you, girl
And, it's a blessing just to know her touch
Her sweet southern drawl'll make you fall in love
And this lady that I hold so dear
Well, I'd be nothing without her here
Smile brighter than them Arkansas diamonds
Dreams bigger than a Texan's horizon
Lord knows a poor man like me would do anything
'Cause your love is what I'm pining
Cut nice, polished and shining
A gem like you is hard finding so keep on digging for this Arkansas diamond
Keep on digging for this Arkansas diamond
Credit: Screen capture via YouTube.com / The Sticks Music.