Wayne Purvis

Wayne Purvis
Singer / Songwriter / Recording Artist

Wayne Purvis grew up surrounded by music and musicians. His dad was also a singer / songwriter. When Wayne was growing up there were always musicians and songwriters around. His dad put a guitar in his hand when he was barely big enough to walk. Wayne listened, watched and learned from the talent that surrounded his life. By the age of thirteen Wayne was putting together a band, they practiced every night, driving their parents crazy. By the age of 15, he was performing in hometown nightclubs every weekend. This is when Wayne decided that “music” was and always would be his life. Not quite sure how, but in his heart he felt he knew that this was how he wanted to make a livin'. Regardless of what it may cost along the way, music was the only way for Wayne. He wrote his first real song “Bourbon & Cocaine” when he was 18, playin' in the back room of a local Okeechobee Bar, the Good Spirits. Wayne and his band were playin' that night and after seeing the bar room life and realizing what all goes on he sang about things he had seen, and wrote this truth telling song. To this day, almost every time Wayne plays, for fun or bookings, this is the song that he is asked to play. Wayne got to meet Scotty Emmerick and Jake Owens a few months ago, a friend introduced Wayne and gave them Wayne's CD. Jake on his way to the stage, stopped and introduced himself to Wayne, he said “I had to meet the guy who wrote a song titled “Bourbon Cocaine.”

That was over twenty years ago when Wayne decided what he wanted to do with his life. For the past twenty years Wayne has been making a living writing songs and playing music. Wayne has done solo performances, played with bands, and is currently doing a songwriter / acoustic showcase and playing in a duo with his wife. Wayne has played the local area, traveled as far north as Indiana playing any place he could along the way, he traveled to England where he played 10 shows in Whales. Wayne knows that making a living playing music, ain't always easy, he's lived life on the hard road. Traveling from town to town, played in some of the roughest honky tonks you could imagine, not knowing where or when he was playing next, but knew he had to find somewhere to play, if only for tips, if he was gonna put food on the table. Wayne has been thru times when it seemed he had lost everything, there was nothing left, but there was one thing, his music, and that's what has gotten him and his family thru times when literally all they had was the clothes on their back and his music equipment and his songs. His original songs have lived a life of their own, lines, complete songs, written down on paper and stored in a folder, have survived thru flooding from hurricanes, and two house fires. The ink is smeared from the water, the edges burned from the fire, but they survived.