Willis Earl Beal is a United States singer-songwriter whose work moves between deep soul, folk, gospel, lo-fi and soul. He begins gaining attention in Chicago through an unusual self-promotion campaign, putting hand-drawn flyers around the city with his phone number and address and offering to sing a song or draw a picture for anyone who contacts him. From around the end of the 2000s he is busking in train stations and performing for callers who respond to the flyers.

In 2009, a flyer he makes appears on the cover of the seventh issue of Found magazine, alongside an interview with him. Reader response to his open, eccentric approach leads to a limited-edition CD of his home recordings being issued in 2011. During this period he is living at his grandmother’s house on Chicago’s South Side and begins playing more regular gigs in the city. His early songs range from gospel-style confessionals to rough soul ballads, with a sound shaped by his powerful voice.

Recording career

Beal signs to Hot Charity, a subsidiary of XL Records, in 2011. His debut album, Acousmatic Sorcery, is scheduled for release in spring 2012, and he tours in the United States and Europe. In 2013 he releases Nobody Knows, a more polished record that still keeps an offbeat character, and it includes guest vocals from Chan Marshall of Cat Power on one track. He leaves Hot Charity before issuing Experiments in Time in 2014, a self-released album that shifts toward a dreamier, synth-led sound.

Later releases

After Experiments in Time, Beal signs with Tender Loving Empire in Portland. He describes Noctunes as a concept album, and it deals with the end of his brief marriage. It is released in 2015.

Style and reputation

Beal’s music is often associated with outsider art because of his back-story and direct, grassroots way of working. Across his recordings, he moves between confession, lo-fi texture and soul-based songwriting, with the cover art, home recordings and live busking all forming part of his public identity.