PHOTOS: NATHAN PARDEE | “They’re like if Led Zeppelin and The Band had a baby in Joshua Tree that grew up listening to Ryan Adams covering the Stones’ ‘70s country-influenced songs.”
Take a gander at the The Wild Feathers’ Twitter page, and you’ll find quite the bio. And if you’ve never heard of these guys, you’re likely confused by it. Or maybe a bit skeptical. Or, probably, both. Let’s face it, those are some lofty comparisons there.
But go to a Wild Feathers show and, trust me, you’ll get it.
All apparent pretensions aside, in reality The Wild Feathers are simply a modest group of musicians with a shared passion for classic, true American rock n’ roll. And this Friday night in Dallas, Texas, the band ensured that rock n’ roll was alive and damn well.
After performances from Jamestown Revival and Saints of Valory, The Wild Feathers took to the stage around 11pm at Gas Monkey, a relatively humble but spacious venue, host to a motley crew of attendants that evening. The sold-out show packed in a diverse, multi-generational crowd—twenty-something hipsters, middle-aged men reliving the glory days, Dallas’s young and rich, and leather-clad moms ready to cut loose. The scene clearly illustrated what The Wild Feathers are trying to do here: draw from the past to make quality music for the present, music that appeals to older and younger generations alike.
As the band stood before the crowd, members advanced to the front of the stage—four guitars, four microphones in an even line. Save for the drummer, who took root at the back of the stage, no one member stood before another. No one member served as the clear frontman of the band.
This is The Wild Feathers’ vision: a group in which every member is as indispensable as the next.
As they progressed through their set, Taylor Burns’s soulful crooning was always as vital as Joel King’s Dylan-esque grit, Ricky Young’s harder-edged tones, Preston Wimberly’s dexterity with a guitar, and Ben Dumas’s energy on percussion. Despite their differences, together each member played up his own distinct voice in a way that only complemented that of the man beside him and enriched the multi-faceted, deeply-rooted sound that is “The Wild Feathers.”
As the band only released their first LP this August, the set consisted mostly of songs off the 14-track album. Highlights of the show included a kick-ass performance of the energetic, harmony-laced “Hard Wind” and a particularly powerful performance of the bluesy “Left My Woman”—only made even more enjoyable by a loud, drunken sing-a-long reverberating from the audience.
Other high points included the debut of a new song, “Happy Again,” and the band’s covers of Paul McCartney and the Wings’ “Let Me Roll It” and The Band’s “The Weight,” clearly a crowd-pleaser.
Not to be overlooked were the two opening performers, Austin-based folk duo Jamestown Revival and alt-rock band Saints of Valory, both of whom drew fairly sizable crowds. Definitely be on the lookout for the impending release of Jamestown Revival’s debut album which—judging by the pair’s killer pipes and cool, vintage vibes—promises to be pretty stellar.
Friday night marked the third stop of The Wild Feathers’ first headlining tour. If their Dallas show serves as any indication for what’s next for the band, we’re going to be hearing a lot more about these guys.
The show reminded you of the best of the past, yet felt so paradoxically fresh.
If Led Zeppelin and The Band had a baby in Joshua Tree that grew up listening to Ryan Adams covering the Stones’ ‘70s country-influenced songs? Touché, The Wild Feathers, touché.
The Wild Feathers are currently on their first headlining tour across North America. For more on the band, check out our recent interview with Taylor Burns.
