“That’s My Baby Right There” – Country Music Star, Stephen Wilson Jr., Created Dentastix… Yes, The Dental Treat For Dogs

Stephen Wilson Jr. has lived many different lives.

In case you didn’t know, the “I’m A Song” singer hasn’t been a singer-songwriter his entire life. At first, he was a boxer – as his father had trained him to be. Then, he went to Middle Tennessee State University and studied microbiology. After he graduated with his bachelor’s degree, he went to work for the MARS company.

Unaffiliated with space… rather, the MARS company that makes candy and pet food.

Wilson Jr. got into more detail about that portion of his life during an interview on This Past Weekend with Theo Von. The 46-year-old country star told the comedian and podcaster that his educational background actually set up him to be a scientist rather than an artist:

“I have a lot of training in science. I went to Middle Tennessee State University, and I worked at MARS, the food company, in research and development for them as a food scientist. I worked in pet food for them, which is based out of Nashville.”

Interestingly enough, Wilson Jr. says that he witnessed a lot of co-workers and higher-ups at MARS eating the pet food that they were creating. He said a lot of people did it to prove they were “tough,” which seems a little weird… but I’m sure it did happen.

Stephen Wilson Jr. never got in on that. He preferred to just make the pet food, and he actually invented a dog treat that you have probably heard of (or even tossed to your furry friend at one point):

“It’s called Dentastix Fresh. It’s still on the market. I see it out there. It’s for dogs. It’s a teeth-cleaning dental chew, very digestible. That’s my baby right there. That was one of my products that I launched from start to finish. It’s cool to see it out there still doing it’s thing.”

Now when you walk down the pet aisle at the grocery, you can point at the Dentastix and say, “Stephen Wilson Jr. created that.”

Theo Von was blown away by that revelation, and suggested that the country music artist should toss the dog treats out to end his concerts. Wilson Jr. was a fan of the idea, and even said he could take it a step further:

“I probably need to start chucking them out there. Just take a bite out of it and (toss it in the crowd).”

Wouldn’t that be something? Doesn’t hurt to promote an invention of yours at your own concert.

Though I said earlier that Wilson Jr. hasn’t always been an artist, he has been writing poetry and songs his entire life. He even taught himself how to play guitar, and was in a band during college, but he left that side project as he entered into his professional years as a product development scientist. He also briefly worked as a vet tech. However, the career of music always enticed him, and he was often writing and thinking of music while he was on the job.

At one point, Wilson Jr. finally decided that his life was meant to be used doing something else. Though his father’s passing in 2018 is often listed as a catalyst to changing his career path to music, it certainly seems like the country music artist was headed towards writing and performing in music before that moment. So in his late 30s and early 40s, when others are settling into their jobs or even prematurely dreaming about retirement, Wilson Jr. started freshly paving his own way in the music industry.

And you can hear Stephen Wilson Jr. talk more about that in the interview with Theo Von below:

The Story Behind Stephen Wilson Jr.’s Guitar

The “Holler from the Holler” singer has lived a couple of different lives in his lifetime. Hailing from Southern Indiana, Wilson Jr. has certainly made waves in country music over the past couple of years. Wilson Jr. first introduced himself with his EP Bon Aqua in 2023, and then really established himself with his masterful Son of Dad album he released later that same year.

And he was finally being recognized for his musical contributions, as the CMA Awards announced him as a “New Artist of the Year” nominee, alongside Ella Langley, Shaboozey, Zach Top, and Tucker Wetmore. He ended up losing the category to Zach Top, but Wilson Jr. has no reason to hang his head.

He had a couple of really powerful live performances during the CMAs, with his emotional cover of “Stand By Me” and his help with Shaboozey’s “Take A Walk,” where he completely stole the show. Besides Stephen’s signature look, or unique-as-ever vocals, I’m sure a lot of people noticed the country artist’s beat-up guitar.

As it turns out, his ragged, old acoustic is a bit of a tip of the cap to Willie Nelson’s “Trigger.” He actually talked about his six-string not too long ago when he sat down for an interview on The Dan Patrick Show.

Stephen Wilson spoke about his newest album, Son Of Dad, and even played a couple of his songs for the sports talk show host. Right before he got into one of songs, Patrick asked Stephen if his visibly beat up guitar would be able to take playing another song.

Wilson Jr. responded with:

“It might or it might not. It’s held together by the bonds of masking tape and drawings.”

Dan Patrick then flexed some of his country music knowledge and likened Wilson Jr’s guitar to Willie Nelson’s famous “Trigger,” which is a modified Martin N-20 nylon-string acoustic. Much of Nelson’s signature sound is attributed to his tried-and-true guitar, and Stephen Wilson Jr. admires that – among other things about Willie:

“Willie Nelson is my hero – as a guitar player, singer and songwriter. He’s the greatest of all time. I learned how to play a lot of guitar from him, because he plays classical nylons. Or we call them ‘gut strings,’ with a pick, which is not very common. And he plays through an amp, not very common either. I basically steal everything from Willie.”

Wilson Jr. went on to explain to those that were listening to the program (rather than watching it) what the guitar looked like, and how it got into the condition that it’s now in:

“This guitar, because I play with a pick, it just destroys it. These are meant to be played with your fingers and they’re designed to be played like that. Not like this (with a pick). This (pick) just shovels away and there’s piles of sawdust on the floor after each show. I literally leave my guitar behind every show. There are pieces of its DNA on stage every night.”

Some might view the way the country artist treats his guitar as a lack of TLC, but in Stephen’s mind, he’s just helping the guitar to fulfill its purpose. Sure, it’s not the shiniest or smoothest looking guitar. Wilson Jr. admits that – and insists that’s not how guitars are supposed to exist anyways:

“Personally I like that better than preserving this guitar forever. I think guitars are meant to be played, not hung up on a wall and treasured. I think this is what this guitar is meant to be doing… shedding itself on stage every night. And this is what it looks like after.”

That’s actually a really poignant sentiment to carry about guitars, and something tells me Wilson Jr.’s view on an instrument’s purpose is yet another thing that he and Willie Nelson would have in common. And I’m glad that it got to take center stage at the 2025 CMA Awards.

The post “That’s My Baby Right There” – Country Music Star, Stephen Wilson Jr., Created Dentastix… Yes, The Dental Treat For Dogs first appeared on Whiskey Riff.