For those people who are new to Wild & Blue could you tell us a bit about the band and your story?
APRIL: We’ve been playing music together for more or less my entire life. Dad brought me up on stage to sing with his band for the first time when I was a toddler, and that stayed pretty consistent throughout my childhood. It was always something I just wanted to be doing. Wild & Blue was formally established when I was in my mid-twenties. I’d left California a few times, gotten my heart broken a few times, and it all just added up to something that felt more mature and less casual than it had in the past.
STEVE: From very early childhood, April had a very accurate ear for melody and rhythm and it was a very natural evolution. April’s mother was also very encouraging and found other ways to help them develop as a performer, including several years in a youth chorus singing classical pieces and learning to sight-read.
Who inspired you to get on stage and perform?
APRIL: My dad really empowered me to take myself seriously as a performer, but I was always performing in some capacity. Being on stage is being in my comfort zone.
STEVE: For me, it was my mother, who was a professional folk musician throughout my childhood, and my brother who was a singer-songwriter.
Are there any artists or albums that have influenced your style, your sound?
APRIL: So many! The people I always come back to, who’ve had the most lasting influence on the way I use my voice, would be Patty Griffin, Ella Fitzgerald, and Otis Redding.
STEVE: Too many to mention, but a few of my earliest influences are Harry Belafonte, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and Wilson Pickett. In Country/Folk music, I was influenced by Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Roger Miller, John Prine, Guy Clark, and Mickey Newberry.
Could you tell us a bit about the ReverbNation Competition Winning track “I’m Missing You So Tonight”?
STEVE: I had an absolute blast playing on, arranging and producing this track. Shortly after I wrote it, it became apparent that April would be singing this one.
APRIL: “Missing You So” is the most dyed-in-the-wool Soul song we’ve recorded to date. My dad wrote it to include the horn part that appears on the track, but when we’d play it live as a duo prior to recording, we’d always scat that part in harmony. It was my idea to arrange it as a call and response, inspired by “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” by Otis Redding.
Do you have any plans to release an EP or album?
APRIL: We’re actually working on a new album right now. We’ll be back in the studio in September.
What are some of your favourite places to perform?
APRIL: Roaring Camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains has served as our homebase for almost my entire life. It’s where my musical identity really took shape and it allowed me to grow a pretty thick skin and a lot of confidence as a performer since on most days you’re just playing for whoever happens to be wandering around the park. There’s something exhilarating about being able to just stop someone in their tracks with what you’re playing.
What’s your best moment as a musician so far?
APRIL: I’d say opening for Joe Nichols in The Barrel Room at Folktale Winery in Carmel, CA was a pretty great moment. It was just the two of us playing for a crowd that really didn’t know us at all. They just completely embraced us. We got a standing ovation at the end of our set. I guess it doesn’t hurt that I got engaged that night too.
STEVE: It’s hard to pick just one! Besides the Folktale show, early in my career, I opened for Asleep at the Wheel, Jerry Jeff Walker, Delbert McClinton, and New Riders Of The Purple Sage.
Here at Artistic Echoes, we are always on the lookout for new artists — do you have any to recommend?
APRIL: I’ve been listening to a lot of Jeremie Albino since seeing him live in Brooklyn last year. He’s setting out on his debut headline tour this Fall and I can’t wait to see him again.
What plans do you have for the rest of the year?
APRIL: Hopefully, we’ll have our new album finished up and ready to release. We’re also starting to talk about some regional touring in support of that, so keep an eye out for us on the road!
Find Out More:
- Website: wildandblueband.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thewi
ldandblue - Facebook: facebook.com/
wildandblueband - Youtube: youtube.com/@thewilda
ndblue - TikTok: tiktok.com/@thewildand
blue - Spotify: https://open.spotify.
com/artist/ 2RG3rWE3BQWRlygUC656Yq?si= ZC9rYexTRw2fsKH6Trr3NA - Apple Music: https://music.apple.com
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