Webb Wilder: Mississippi's Roots-Rock Raconteur and "Tough It Out"

Photo: Brian Mansfield / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Webb_Wilder_2015_Brian_Mansfield.jpg

Webb Wilder (born John Webb McMurry) is an American roots rock and country singer, guitarist and actor from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. U-Rock® has logged 1,782 plays of "Tough It Out."

The Webb Wilder sound

According to Wikipedia, Wilder started playing guitar at 12 and was in bands by 14. His aunt, Lillian McMurry, founded Trumpet Records and mentored him. With bands including The Drapes, The Beatnecks and The Nashvegans, he combines straight-ahead rock 'n' roll with Ventures-style surf guitar and Duane Eddy twang, drawing on blues, R&B, rockabilly and film noir. He acted in Peter Bogdanovich's The Thing Called Love (1993) and has hosted radio shows for Sirius and WMOT.

Doo Dad

"Tough It Out" was the single from Wilder's 1991 album Doo Dad, produced by R. S. Field with guest appearances from Al Kooper and Sonny Landreth. It peaked at No. 16 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. Trouser Press wrote that "Webb swaggers gloriously," and singled out "the rousing boogie of 'Tough It Out.'" Stereo Review called the album "Hillbilly Gothic at its deadpan best." The photo here is from 2015.

Why it matters on U-Rock®

Webb Wilder mixes surf guitar, twang and film noir. "Tough It Out" was his Top 20 rock radio single.

U-Rock® play data: 1,782 plays logged across the BROADCAST and CORE histories (2026-07-02 to 2026-10-12), using the higher of the two logs.

Sources 1. Wikipedia, "Webb Wilder" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webb_Wilder 2. Wikipedia, "Doo Dad" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doo_Dad 3. Wikimedia Commons, "Webb Wilder 2015 (Brian Mansfield)" — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Webb_Wilder_2015_Brian_Mansfield.jpg 4. U-Rock® BROADCAST (AzuraCast) and CORE (airplay_spins) play logs