I’ve been to a lot of music festivals and concerts in my lifetime. And I’m fortunate (and grateful) enough to have been front row at the majority of them. But, if you asked me which festival always stands out in my mind, I would always say Folk Fest without a doubt. The Edmonton Folk Fest is, without a doubt, what makes Edmonton special. It is a four day weekend (Thursday to Sunday) filled with some of my favorite folk musicians and some that will surely become my favorites by the end. Last year’s festival was their 40th anniversary and it did not disappoint. I was invited to attend with a press pass and in addition to being able to take photos in the photo pit, I got the chance of a lifetime: to interview one of my favorite bands, Wild Rivers.
Wild Rivers is a Toronto band comprised of Khalid Yassein (vocals, guitar), Devan Glover (vocals), Andrew Oliver (guitar, bass) and Julien Laferriere (drums). If you had told me a couple years ago that I would get the chance one day to sit down with my favorite band for a half an hour and just ask them whatever questions I wanted to, I would have been absolutely terrified. Excited is a given, sure, but I also would have been shakin’ in my boots. It was an amazing experience and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the members of my favorite band.
As you all know and have been experiencing all throughout Edmonton and your own cities, COVID-19 quickly and firmly put a stop to all public gatherings. And of course, that meant concerts as well. And thus, the 41st annual Folk Fest was cancelled in Edmonton. It was heartbreaking to know that I wouldn’t been spending a weekend in August with my best friends on a grassy hill under the sun listening to live music. But, I thought taking a little walk down memory lane and celebrating last year’s Folk Fest would help put my sadness at rest. And so, please enjoy my interview with my favorite band, Wild Rivers.
Wild Rivers
How did you all meet?
Well, Devan and I (Khalid), met in university. We had a bunch of mutual friends and each of our friends wanted to introduce us to each other because they knew that we both independently did music. And then one time at a party, I approached Devon and said I know you’re a singer. I’m a singer, too. We should do some singing. And we did. And it was great. And we instantly became friends and started jamming. And then we just did kind of coffee shop stuff and just circumstantially, just became kind of musical partners. And then after after school, we did it more and more. I wanted to do a record and knew these guys through mutual friends and other bands and stuff. And it kind of came at the perfect time that we were fleshing out our our album. And we wanted to play bigger shows that weren’t just the acoustic thing. So it naturally changed into this totally different thing where we’re a proper band.
How did you come up with your name, Wild Rivers?
We went through probably like three hundred band names. Some close ones were Twin Cedar and Wolf Island, which I honestly like the name better there. We should change the name now, OK? We are Wolf Island. Yeah. And then we just decided on Wild Rivers. There’s not a super cool origin story, but we were all into it and we needed to choose because we had a show the next day.
So, what would you say was your big break?
Still waiting. There hasn’t really been like at one moment of a big break. It’s kind of been a gradual build. I guess the thing that’s been the biggest for us is like being on Spotify playlists and stuff like that. Like the majority of people that end up at our shows, 90 percent of them say they found us through that. But there is no one specific big break.
What was the main force that drew you into the music industry?
We were all studying different random things at university. Khalid was in biology. Devan was taking Psychology. Julien was the only one actually taking music. He’s the only real musician. And I (Andrew) was in a media program. But I think we all kind of individually had this or some version of this as our goal growing up. And I think that’s what helped us get along so well. There are few other people in our lives that share the same kind of dream and have the same kind of dedication to it.
Who would you say are your biggest musical inspirations?
I think everybody in the band listens to a lot of the same music and then a lot of very different music, which is great because it brings together all these different genres. And when we’re writing and making songs, we’re just throwing a bunch of shit together. We like a lot of people here at this festival.. I would say the Lumineers are a big hit with us. Donny, Donovan Woods is a big one for us at this festival that we like. Bahamas for sure, Brandi Carlile, so many people at this festival are actually huge for us. And Hozier. And like man, we all have different backgrounds and we’re all here doing the same thing now. And we also like older artists like James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, that kind of classic 70s stuff.
What has been your favorite venue to perform?
Fonda Theatre in L.A. It was really cool. We played there with the Papercuts and it’s just a big, beautiful room. And it was our first show in L.A., so it’s really cool. Hometown shows in Toronto are always a lot of fun just because it’s kind of like where we started and all our friends and family are there. And so that’s always special. Davenport, Iowa at the Racoon Motel was a lit experience. The premise of it is that it’s actually a new bar, but they made it look like it closed in 1970 and they just opened the door. So it feels like you’re walking in a time machine. And we. Yeah, yeah. We like sod now. It hadn’t really heard of Davenport, Iowa. And then like Austin, Texas, is super fun. Lots of tacos. There’s a place called the Eddy’s Attic in Atlanta that we’ve had a couple of shows there, it’s like a nice listening room, kind of a vibe where everybody sitting down Cabaret. And you just have a real connection with the audience. And also the first time we played there, it’s unexpected to have people coming out and caring about the music. And then we show up and there’s people singing along and it feels awesome to get pleasantly surprised. And you can tell there’s little bit of magic between you and the audience. That’s the best feeling.
Where are you going after this? What’s the next city you’re performing in?
We’re not really touring right now. We’re just kind of doing weekend festivals and little one off shows, so we’ll do Blue Mountain and Northern Ontario Music Festival. We’ll go to Colorado, do a little thing in Denver. I guess that’s a lot of shows on paper, but I feel like we’re not really playing that many shows right now. We’re we’re working on new music. That’s the primary focus.
Do you have plans for a new album coming out?
It will be February 2nd. I’m just kidding. We don’t have a date. We basically have a bunch of songs that we want to release and we’re getting in the studio in September. Maybe we’ll do an EP and an album. Maybe we’ll do just singles. We don’t have a solid plan yet. We’ve got a bunch of songs and we’re super excited about them, so we’ll see what happens.
Have you checked out any of the food here and what’s been your favorite food that you’ve tried?
We’ve been eating all the catering. The volunteers here and the hospitality for artists are just so amazing. They have every dietary restriction option and it’s just healthy and really good. Shoutout to the Westin Hotel for putting us up. The artist perks here are nice, we like it here a lot. And we love the green onion cakes and the blooming onions at the festival.
What’s your favorite song to perform?
I (Devan) like to play Call It a Night. I just feel like we always have a good vibe with that one. It’s kind of like a journey. There’s a lot of different sections and it’s fun. Paul Simon felt really good today. It’s kind of a tough song. It’s a song that we’ve played so many times, but it’s not easy for us to all sink in the vibe and get the right rhythm. It felt the best it’s felt in a long time.
What musician would you love to collaborate with one day?
I would love to do a DJ set with Questlove. I love Bahamas. It would be sick to play guitar with him. And maybe, like, Chris Stapleton or Brandi Carlile, stuff in that alt-country, Nashville scene.
What’s your favorite thing about performing at the Edmonton Folk Fest?
The people here are the best! And the other artists. It’s cool to be amongst them and also be able to see all the sets and participate in the workshops. It’s really cool. And I said this onstage, but I love watching a little kid run down a hill.
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