Live at Lake Effect is our music series featuring local and nationally touring artists performing in the Lake Effect Surf Shop in Shorewood, Wisconsin.
We brought the Lake Effects together, along with Visionary Studios, to showcase musicians once a month through an interview with the band exclusively on Lake Effect, plus filmed performances.
This episode features The Wild Feathers. The band formed in 2010 in Nashville, Tenn. with three lead singers: Joel King, Taylor Burns, and Ricky Young. Guitarist and mandolin player Brett Moore, along with drummer Ben Dumas, complete the band. Although they’re from Nashville, The Wild Feathers aren’t necessarily a country band. Their sound is a blend of Southern rock, Americana roots, and heartland pop — all centered in vocal harmony.
"We’re all songwriters, so either you have a good idea or it’s not so good. And if it’s decent, then one of us can maybe make it a little bit better. You know, I’ve had a lot of ideas that were okay and Joel or Taylor make it great, and vice versa, I hope," Young says.
The Wild Feathers' latest record Sirens saw the band trekking out to the West Coast to work with Scooter Jennings, the son of outlaw country artist Waylon Jennings. Looking back on the recording sessions at Jennings' Los Angeles studio, Young says the producer fit right in with the band's chemistry.
"For a week or two, it was like we had a sixth member," he recalls.
On Sirens, The Wild Feathers' illusions about being in a band make contact with the reality of life on the road, and the record finds the band asking themselves, "Was it all worth it?" Young says the album's concept and broader themes followed from a song of the same name.
"I started trying to write a song called 'Sirens' kind of about just that: being drawn in with all the attractive, pretty things in the music business, and then only to find your destruction," he says.
"You don't have a normal life [as a musician]," King says. "You know you're gone, or the highs are high but the lows are low. And I think it's just got to be worth it — you have to love playing and creating music to a certain amount to where you put up with everything else."
Burns adds that the business side has been the main downside for the group. "Looking back, there's so many little things we wish we would have done differently, but you know we're still here we're still together still getting after it. So what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," he says.
On the more physically destructive side of things, Young recalls an unfortunate stage-diving incident at Milwaukee's very own Summerfest a few years ago.
"[It was] very 'Spinal Tap.' I was free-falling for so long that I extended my legs in hopes to find the ground, and when I did, I hit and my back just went like an accordion," he says.
Despite The Wild Feathers' disillusion about the music industry, the band has made numerous connections in Music City over its 15-year run. They've written songs for other artists such as alt-country band The Jayhawks as well as the ABC show "Nashville." King has also worked as a session bassist on Grammy-nominated records by Lainey Wilson, Miranda Lambert and others.
"Everyone got a Grammy except for the actual players on the record," Young says. "I have a huge problem with that, because we could kind of claim that we're Grammy award-winning – or one of us is."
Taking stock of all the highs and lows of life on tour, a deep love for the music and for each other makes it all worth it — throughout all the highs and lows.
"We genuinely love being around each other, I think that's the first thing. Because, if you hate each other it's like, I would not be doing this, I'd be at home with my family," Young says. "I love these guys and I love the music so it makes it that much easier."
"I think that's true," Burns adds. "If we didn't love each other and still liked doing this I think we would've quit a long time ago."
SET LIST
- Sanctuary (0:08)
- Pretending (2:58)
- Stereo (7:40)
MUSICIANS
- Ricky Young: lead vocals & acoustic guitar
- Joel King: lead vocals & bass
- Taylor Burns: lead vocals & guitar
- Ben Dumas: percussion
- Brett Moore: guitar
Live at Lake Effect Team:
- Executive Producers: Audrey Nowakowski & Trapper Schoepp
- Audio Engineering: Jason Rieve
- Location: Lake Effect Surf Shop in Milwaukee
- Production Company: Visionary Studios
- Camera Op: Kieran Walter Sundaram, Kelly Pudroski & Jessica Wolff
