Willi Carlisle (born May 29, 1989) is an American folk singer-songwriter from Kansas, United States and based out of Arkansas, United States.

[4] Carlisle grew up in a musical family, with his father being a polka musician,[2] which led to him being introduced to American folk, bluegrass, and country.

[6] Carlisle attended the University of Arkansas and got an MFA in poetry with the hopes of this teaching him how to write better folk music.

[1][7] While in the academic setting, he realized a disconnect that existed between contemporary poetry and regular people.

This drove him to write music connecting to this group.