There are venues in town that host shows where showing up on any given night guarantees finding some good music. Zanzabar is definitely one of those venues in Louisville, and this is definitely the case when Canadian trio Wild Rivers brings their reflective folk sound to Louisville this Saturday night.
If you’re a fan of songwriters like Damien Rice or The Swell Season, you want to be in that room on Saturday. Members Devan Glover, Khalid Yassein and Andrew Oliver met at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. They’ve toured with The Paper Kites and are coming to Louisville in support of their newest release, Sidelines.
Here’s the part where I tell you that LEO caught up with the band’s vocalist Devan Glover via email to ask about the new release, creating in the weirdest moment on earth and what they are looking forward to this year.
LEO: You’re releasing a new album. Tell me about the new songs and the theme of the new record.
Devan Glover: The themes on Sidelines really only revealed themselves later in the process of making the album. We were just trying to write honest songs about where we were at the time, and then we realized there were a lot of through lines when we went to put the track listing together. The songs on Sidelines talk about trying to navigate your mid-20s, the struggle to find your place in the world, and the importance of perspective. A lot of the songs talk about wanting to be in another time or place and are written from the lens of an observer, like us watching our lives from the sidelines.
Is this your first show in Louisville? What are you excited for your fans to experience?
This will be our second time, but the first time we played there was a long time ago! So we’re excited for people to experience the new songs and live arrangements, especially since the album will have just been released.
How has your creative process been over the last two years? For some artists it seems to have been fruitful, is that true for you also?
It was definitely tough. Luckily, we had written all the songs for the album prior to the pandemic, so we were mostly just trying to work out how to record everything amongst a series of lockdowns. We ended up doing some things remotely, so it was a different experience than what we had been used to, but I think a lot of good came out of it too. We were able to rework our creative process a little and take breaks between recording sessions to gain perspective on the songs.
What are you looking forward to this year? Any major resolutions?
So much to look forward to! We’re playing Europe for the first time, and we’re also playing our first major festivals, like Bonnaroo and Bottlerock. The goal is to stay present and not get caught up in the craziness that can be touring.
What music are you listening to right now?
Loving the new Dijon album!
Wild Rivers plays Zanzabar this Saturday Feb. 5. The show starts at 8 p.m. with doors opening at 7 p.m. Tickets are $19 and can be purchased here.
Keep Louisville interesting and support LEO Weekly by subscribing to our newsletter here. In return, you’ll receive news with an edge and the latest on where to eat, drink and hang out in Derby City.