He is a guitarist and singer-songwriter born on a Navy base in California who started taking an interest in music when he was 6 years old. He first took voice lessons and then the following year started to play piano as well. When he was 12 years old he began to concentrate on the guitar and after gravitating towards blues and Motown at high school he started to concentrate on playing rhythm guitar. He took his further studies at college in Denver, Colorado.
He was playing in Massachusetts when he was discovered by the singer Bonnie Raitt in 1974 and after playing and recording with her for 6 years he moved to Alabama to become a member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section aka The Swampers in 1980.
He has worked on gospel and secular music and has performed and recorded with artists that include Bobby “Blue” Bland, Levon Helm, Etta James, Little Milton and Johnnie Taylor and many others. He had also become a Christian and travelled in ministry, often with his wife Janet. He became a minister and has been a pastor at Grace Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina while still continuing his work as a guitarist.
He continues to perform in Muscle Shoals and in Nashville and was inducted into the Musicians’ Hall of Fame in Nashville as a friend of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.
Recordings he has performed on as a guitarist and/or songwriter are many and include his own Colony of Heaven, Axe to the Root and For the Peoples along with Years of Tears by Bobby “Blue” Bland, The Soul of a Woman by Shirley Brown, The Gospel Christmas Gift Set by the Cedarmont Kids, Heart and Soul: The Hand Crawford Anthology by Hank Crawford, The SnakeDoctor Circus by Billy Ray Cyrus, Whistling in the Dark by Max Gronenthal, Luther Ingram by Luther Ingram, The Right Time by Etta James, Catchin’ Up by Latimore, Above All by Lenny LeBlanc, Cheatin’ Habit by Little Milton, Stay Close to Home by Dorothy Moore, You’ve Got to Feel It by Chris Pierce and Home Plate and Sweet Forgiveness by Bonnie Raitt, The End Is Not in Sight by Russell Smith, Classic Candi, Vol 1 and 2 by Candi Staton, The Soul Sessions, Vol 2 by Joss Stone, Real Love by Johnnie Taylor and Deep In My Soul by Big Daddy Wilson along with numerous others.
In the field of musical education he teaches guitar to students at all levels and in a range of styles.
Sources:
- https://wgsusa.com/artists/will-mcfarlane
- https://www.prolessons.com/instructor/will-mcfarlane
- https://musictrail.una.edu/?page_id=879
- https://www.bonnieraitt.eu/talking-with-guitarist-songwriter-will-mcfarlane/
- https://guitar.libsyn.com/will-mcfarlane-lead-guitar-muscle-shoals-rhythm-section
- https://music.metason.net/artistinfo?name=Will%20McFarlane
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/891147-Will-McFarlane
- https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/will-mcfarlane/credits/
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/will-mcfarlane-mn0000687775#credits