Nashville band The Wild Feathers has had an unflagging career thus far; after forming in 2010, the band gained national prominence opening for Paul Simon and Bob Dylan, all before the release of their debut album, The Wild Feathers, in August 2013. Now engaging on their first headlining tour, this old-fashioned rock and roll band (as vocalist/acoustic guitarist Ricky Young preferred to label The Wild Feathers) is stoked to be on the road.
“[The tour’s been] great man, great,” Young said in a phone interview. “Cold but really really good.”
Young spoke at great length about touring, and how much the band enjoys it, although he didn’t quite agree with the idea that The Wild Feathers are primarily a “road band.”
“We’re definitely on the road a lot. We really enjoy playing live, so that’s just what we’re gonna do. We love making records too and writing, but y’know it’s kind of rewarding to be on the road and travel and get to play for people who want to hear you sing your songs, so we always look forward to that.”
However, the above quote is an understatement, compared to Young’s subsequent comment about the volume of shows The Wild Feathers played last year.
“We did almost 250 dates, and we’re well on track to do that again this year,” Young said. “So yeah, we really enjoy it, we’re having a good time.”
In contrast to the unflagging momentum that has marked The Wild Feather’s career thus far, Young described the band’s genesis as an instance of almost casual serendipity.
“[Joel King] and I kind of discussed, y’know, we’d like to start a project with multiple singers and writers and stuff and just kind of see what we could do, what kind of songs we could write together and just by chance we met [Taylor Burns] in Austin one weekend,” Young said. “We were just down there hanging out, it was Joel’s birthday…Taylor was playing in a band with [Preston Wimberly] and we wrote a couple songs pretty quick and next thing you knew we were dong some demos in L.A. and next Nashville and it just kind of turned into this somehow, someway, and that was a good three and a half four years ago seems like.”
Young related the start of The Wild Feathers with a great deal of humility, in light of the band’s unflagging momentum.
“Really, it was just kind of satisfying to write some songs that were different and better than what we were doing on our own. And that’s kind of what exactly what happened.”
Young, a native of Texas (he grew up outside Houston), has been living in Nashville for about nine years, he said. Describing his entry into music, Young again attributed it to serendipity, as well as general curiosity.
“For me, I just really always thought guitars and drums and amps and instruments were cool—there were some neighborhood kids, around the corner, that were a couple grades older than me and they were always playing in bands and stuff,” Young said. “I always thought it was really cool so when I kinda came of age a little bit in my early teens I started picking around on a guitar.”
Young added that his father also helped influence his choice of instruments.
“My dad always had acoustic guitars sitting around and he’d always play Willie [Nelson] songs.”
For Young, playing the guitar wasn’t so much to learn other people’s songs, but rather as a means of self-education.
“I just kind of started making up my own stuff and ended up writing songs before I learned how to play anyone else’s," Young said. “And that’s just how it kind of fell into place with me. I think that’s pretty close to what Taylor and Joel did as well.”
Although there is a great deal of casualness to Young’s explanation, there is also a great deal of awe and simple excitement.
“It was just kind of one of those things where it sounds cool, it looks cool, I wanted to do when I was a kid and I just kind of figured out a way to make it happen.”
In addition, Young spoke about his, and The Wild Feathers’, affinity for The Band, an oft-remarked touchstone/influence for the group.
“We all kind of grew up the same as far as our parents and what our parents were into those songs were really just around,” Young said. “I don’t know even the exact time when I fell in love with The Band but I do know that we just really liked them, y’know?”
Young added that The Band, while a formative experience for all involved, was not itself an impetus for the group.
“We didn’t set out to try and sound like the Band—I don’t think we really sound like them. I mean, that’s impossible in my opinion.”
Nonetheless, The Band’s influence is felt, even if, as Young is quick to add, it isn’t the only influence.
“[The Band is] just one of those bands [where] people ask you, 'What do you listen to?,' and [you say], ‘The Band’ and people just started thinking and saying that’s one of our main influences, which—it is an influence—but there are many, many, many other ones too. [The Band is] just one.”
Young did, however, acknowledge how people might associate The Band with The Wild Feathers, even on a superficial level.
“I guess it kind of makes sense cause there are multiple singers in the band and it kind of has that rootsy, Americana—whatever you want to call it thing—but really we’re just fans.”
In the end, Young related all this back to The Wild Feathers and their experience on tour.
“You really can’t help what you like, so we’re just doing what we do, and y’know, people like it and that’s great.”
The Wild Feathers will be playing the Majestic on Feb. 15 at 9 p.m. Special guests include Saints of Valory and Jamestown Revival.
