(gentle music) (light upbeat music) (light upbeat music) -[Chloe] Our music has changed and just our blend and the way that we understand each other's voices naturally has changed over the years too.

(light folk music) ♪ Jump in your car ♪ - [Noah] I feel like you're yelling at me a little bit too.

♪ Jump ♪ -[Noah] You're yelling at me a little bit.

- [Chloe] I gotta do it loud though.

There's been many evolutions I would say, kind of 'cause we all grew up together.

♪ Jump in your car ♪ - [Noah] Yeah, that sounds good.

- I feel like should be loud and then we go, -[Noah] I guess might sound a little strange but it felt like we were three individuals kinda when we first started working as a trio but now I feel like it's more one entity.

It kinda like marriage or something, you ♪ Being yourself with such embrace ♪ - [Noah] There is no interchangeable member of The Wildwoods.

(gentle music) The Wildwoods have become 100% the three of us.

♪ Poster child.

♪ -[Chloe] We always had a hard time describing our genre.

'Cause I don't feel like it's strictly folk.

I don't feel like it's bluegrass, it's not country.

♪ Judge and jury and you are on trial ♪ - [Chloe] With the intricate string parts and a lot of the key changes, it kind of feels like neoclassical a little bit.

♪ Howling at the moon You left behind ♪ What have we said?

Chamber folk?

- Yeah.

- Chamber folk.

Yeah.

(vocal tuning) ♪ I know your silence too much ♪ -[Chloe] Well I feel like it's kind of always been, at least for Noah and I, I mean, I don't know, maybe you two.

Andy always like the dream to be a full-time musician.

Yeah, like that's just always been on our minds like we're going to make this work somehow.

(light folk music) ♪ With my honey out picking cherries ♪ ♪ Feeling happy as I might ever be ♪ ♪ Her hands are red, like roses blooming in February ♪ ♪ Carrying a pail filled with cherry wine ♪ ♪ The ones we picked ourselves will do fine ♪ ♪ I'll fill your glass if and only if you will fill mine ♪ ♪ Darling, take me by the hand ♪ ♪ You might be my sweet salvation ♪ ♪ Hold my trembling soul inside of yours ♪ ♪ As we crawl through open doors ♪ ♪ Darling, tell me to go ♪ ♪ Say the words and I will follow you ♪ ♪ Through darkness each and every day ♪ ♪ Put it in a locket that you wear ♪ ♪ There in front of your heart ♪ ♪ With my honey out picking cherries ♪ ♪ Laughing about all the dirt on our knees ♪ ♪ Climbing trees so quietly so we won't wake the bees ♪ ♪ Driving home at a quarter past 10 ♪ ♪ Wake up in the morning just to do it again ♪ ♪ She turns to me and she says ♪ ♪ I'm lucky just to be your friend ♪ ♪ Darling, take me by the hand ♪ ♪ You might be my sweet salvation ♪ ♪ Hold my trembling soul inside of yours ♪ ♪ As we crawl through open doors ♪ ♪ Darling, tell me to go ♪ ♪ Say the words and I will follow you ♪ ♪ Through darkness each and every day ♪ ♪ Keep it in a locket that you wear ♪ ♪ There in front of your heart ♪ ♪ Or your wrist or your arm ♪ ♪ I'll be your unlucky charm ♪ ♪ And are my lips too red from the wine?

♪ ♪ Cherries are berries and I'll bury another ♪ ♪ bottle with you ♪ (cheerful folk music) ♪ Darling, take me by the hand ♪ ♪ You might be my sweet salvation ♪ ♪ Hold my trembling soul inside of yours ♪ ♪ Darling, tell me to go ♪ ♪ Say the words and I will follow you ♪ ♪ Through darkness each and every day ♪ ♪ Through darkness each and every day ♪ ♪ Through darkness each and every day ♪ ♪ Put it in a locket that you wear ♪ ♪ There in front of your heart ♪ (audience applauding) -[Chole] I don't know if we've each ever talked about this before, but I feel like because I play with you guys so much, we have a mutual understanding, unspoken that no matter what at a show, like if there's two people there or like a hundred people there, we're still gonna put the same amount of energy into it.

(calm music) (audience applauding) Andy got those pants from the Lee Wrangler store.

They gave them to him, 'cause he wasn't wearing pants one day.

- So they went to the discount bin and they said it's on us just for the love of God.

Just put these on.

- [Noah] We just feel real comfortable with each other.

-[Andy] There's been a real organic evolution in that chemistry.

I think with anything, just like we give him the time it can evolve.

-[Chloe] Then he added some lyrics to it and now we have a song called Cherry Picking.

So here we go.

- If you pre-save it on your phone and show us at the merch table.

- Andy will change his pants.

- Not gonna happen, but Noah might give you a hug.

- [Noah] Yeah, I might.

(calm music) -[Chloe] I feel like we do a pretty good job of just like taking care of each other in that way.

So like if Noah's guitar is out of tune, one of us will like say something.

Or if Noah and I are switching instruments, Andy's like ready to go on the microphone.

Like still entertaining people even if it's not playing music.

We met Andy at our wedding.

- That's true.

- Noah and I used to make yearly trips to the Niobrara River, the last time we went we met a hitchhiker.

We picked him up.

- That's right.

- It was Andy.

- That's a true story actually.

- [Noah] We met him at a comedy club last night.

- [Andy] That's true.

Standup comedian.

Standup bass.

- [Noah] What a beautiful story.

- [Andy] Thank you.

-[Noah] Let's hear for Andy Vaggalis incredible.

I think just they're musicianship kind of puts me at ease.

But I think we all do that for each other and that just allows the music to be the easy part, I guess.

(calm guitar music) ♪ Set the table, all our friends are eating alone ♪ ♪ Drop your fingers, take a breath and swallow it whole ♪ ♪ Are there lips in your ears that are driving you mad?

♪ ♪ Do they hold you like a marionette?

♪ ♪ Is there more to life than a morning smoke?

♪ ♪ Well, I guess I haven't found it yet ♪ ♪ I saw you, did you see me?

♪ ♪ I saw your reflection and it's putting me at ease ♪ ♪ I've been there before, in the belly of the whale ♪ ♪ I swam up for air before I fell underneath ♪ ♪ Bow and let the crowd applaud you ♪ ♪ Masquerading on a full moon ♪ ♪ Now the curtains have closed, that's the end of the show ♪ ♪ Swooned by your ulterior motives ♪ ♪ There she goes, off to find a hideaway ♪ (cheerful folk music) ♪ Feel your pockets for the last of your needles and pins ♪ ♪ Roam the hallways, racing thoughts and tireless limbs ♪ ♪ Are you tired of the mess, that collects in your nest?

♪ ♪ Is your head spinning off of the tracks?

♪ ♪ And you're blowing your horn ♪ ♪ 'Cause you've run out of steam ♪ ♪ Why'd you ever think that they had your back?

♪ ♪ I saw you, did you see me?

♪ ♪ I saw you praying in the dark on your knees ♪ ♪ Glass on the floor, glass in my feet ♪ ♪ Blood on the carpet, seeping into the concrete ♪ ♪ Bow and let the crowd applaud you ♪ ♪ Masquerading on a full moon ♪ ♪ Now the curtains have closed, that's the end of the show ♪ ♪ Swooned by your ulterior motives ♪ ♪ There she goes, off again to hideaway ♪ (cheerful folk music) -[Noah] We've played in almost every state except for, let's see, North Dakota, Texas, which we're playing in Texas in a few months.

- Alaska.

- Alaska, Hawaii.

- Rhode Island.

- Rhode Island and Louisiana.

Touring has just been an amazing thing for just inspiration of songs.

(gentle music) There's so many things that we come across every single day that there could be 10 songs written about.

(gentle music) -[Andy] I think Footprint's very clever lyrically and I feel like a good portion of the lyrics do have like a beautiful aura around them.

Then there's certain lyrics like "A yellow teeth in the mirror staring back of me.

I can't wait until they all fall out."

Which you know, it feels like very John Prine-ian of like a thing to say.

Just kind of not taking it too seriously.

But it's also like a really beautifully, almost kind of darkly visual line that I really like.

- Thank you.

I've had a lot of cavities.

(Andy laughs) (calm music) (calm music) (calm music) ♪ Locks of hair on the floor ♪ ♪ Still waiting for it to grow back so I can go outside ♪ ♪ Spoiled milk in the fridge ♪ ♪ How shameful and wasteful of my selfish mind ♪ ♪ Why have I been so unkind?

♪ ♪ I suppose I'm overthinking ♪ ♪ I have been drinking on Monday afternoon ♪ ♪ Ooo, Ooo, Ooo, all my thoughts belongs to her ♪ ♪ She rents a room up in my head ♪ ♪ Sifting through the drawers ♪ ♪ Ooo, Ooo, Ooo, won't you tell me what you find?

♪ ♪ 'Cause all that you have left behind ♪ ♪ Are footprints on the floor ♪ ♪ Yellow teeth in the mirror, staring back at me ♪ ♪ I cannot wait until they all fall out ♪ ♪ One less little thing to worry about anyway ♪ ♪ Why have I been so afraid?

♪ ♪ Perhaps I'll make some marmalade ♪ ♪ From the pulp of the fruits of my labor ♪ ♪ Are you still angry bout' the broken coffee maker?

♪ ♪ Ooo, Ooo, Ooo, all my thoughts belongs to her ♪ ♪ She rents a room up in my head ♪ ♪ Sifting through the drawers ♪ ♪ Ooo, Ooo, Ooo, won't you tell me what you find?

♪ ♪ 'Cause all that you have left behind ♪ ♪ Are footprints on the floor ♪ ♪ Locks of hair on the floor, still waiting ♪ ♪ Spoiled milk in the fridge, how shameful ♪ ♪ I suppose I'm overthinking ♪ ♪ I have been drinking on Monday afternoon ♪ ♪ Ooo, Ooo, Ooo, all my thoughts belongs to her ♪ ♪ She rents a room up in my head ♪ ♪ Sifting through the drawers ♪ ♪ Ooo, Ooo, Ooo, won't you tell me what you find?

♪ ♪ 'Cause all that you have left behind ♪ ♪ All that you have left behind ♪ ♪ All that you have left behind ♪ ♪ Are footprints on the floor ♪ (calm music) - [Noah] There we go.

Okay.

We're in business now.

-[Chloe] Noah.

He's the main songwriter for The Wildwoods.

-[Noah] When I'm writing the music first, I'm kind of just fishing for lyrics a little bit versus if I kind of have the lyrics laid out like it's a poem, it feels more meaningful and for some weird reason that makes it a bit easier to put music to it.

(calm guitar music) -[Chole] I get to add my own little things to his creation, which is really cool.

(calm guitar music) And after Andy's added a baseline to it, I'm like, "Whoa, that like completely transformed what I thought the song was gonna sound like."

(calm guitar music) -[Andy] Kinda like what Chloe was saying with Noah's aptitude for for writing and arranging and I feel like it's something that I'll start to take for granted.

He'll show us a song that he is working on and it's like, just like this demo that sounds good enough to just like release on its own right now.

(calm guitar music) -[Chole] I love all of the songs that you write, but one song that I really love the lyrics to that I think still think are so beautiful is Foxfield St. John.

I was like going through a really difficult time mentally and I didn't really feel like anybody else knew that.

But the lyrics to that song are kind of like seeing someone struggling from an outside perspective and like just telling them everything's gonna be okay.

Which I don't know, it was really beautiful the first time I heard that one.

- And everything was okay.

- Yeah.

(chuckles) (upbeat music) ♪ Running in and out of towns, she moves like heavy winds ♪ ♪ Floating in and out of storms she is like hail to him ♪ ♪ Beautiful and honest yet so hard to understand ♪ ♪ Like a bright reflection from a perfect emerald gem ♪ ♪ And it's so hard to see the brighter side of anything ♪ ♪ You've gotta keep on moving ♪ ♪ Try to live another day ♪ ♪ And maybe you were happier before ♪ ♪ Maybe you don't need me here anymore ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Finding every mountain just to drive along ♪ ♪ Remembering springtime on Foxfield Saint John ♪ ♪ Following a herd of goats, along Glendalough ♪ ♪ Tearing up my favorite shirt against the ancient rocks ♪ ♪ And it's so hard to see the brighter side of anything ♪ ♪ You've gotta keep on moving ♪ ♪ Try to live another day ♪ ♪ And maybe you were happier before ♪ ♪ Maybe you don't need me here anymore ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Running in and out of towns, she moves like heavy wind ♪ ♪ Remembering springtime on Foxfield saint john ♪ -[Noah] Yeah, this song's about why we love Nebraska and it's called Sweet Niobrara.

Sweet Niobrara was mainly inspired by the trips that Chloe and I have taken up to Smith Falls, which is right on the Niobrara River up by Valentine Highway 12.

That goes along kind of the northern side of the state I think is just one of the most beautiful places in the country.

We didn't really think it was unique to be from Nebraska until we started touring because it's such a funny thing to people for some reason.

-[Chloe] And most people haven't been to Nebraska.

When we ask our shows and they're always like, "What is Nebraska like?"

This new album is pretty much just about home and how much we love and appreciate where we come from.

We had always thought in our minds we'd love to move away somewhere, but now that we've spent the last two years touring, it has given us a new appreciation for home and enjoying our time and valuing it when we come back.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ I love the feeling of the highway ♪ ♪ And the rumble and the kick beneath my toes ♪ ♪ The freedom of the asphalt ♪ ♪ The smell of it still lingers on my clothes ♪ ♪ Double lines like dominoes ♪ ♪ Fall against each other on the open road ♪ ♪ I won't forget you when you're next to me ♪ ♪ I'll sound the horn to keep you awake ♪ ♪ Sweet Niobrara, in the morning ♪ ♪ I will leave for Valentine ♪ ♪ Highway 12, is a fine stretch of country ♪ ♪ To clear a foggy mind ♪ ♪ Niobrara, I am leaving you behind ♪ ♪ Stopping for a miller ♪ ♪ Dirty glasses from the farmers' muddy hands ♪ ♪ They're cracking jokes across the bar ♪ ♪ A day of working on their precious land ♪ ♪ Near the end of harvest ♪ ♪ The clouds, they roam like buffalo in the sky ♪ ♪ A simple way of living ♪ ♪ Can sharpen up the dullest of knives ♪ ♪ Sweet Niobrara, in the morning ♪ ♪ I will leave for Valentine ♪ ♪ Highway 12, is a fine stretch of country ♪ ♪ To clear a foggy mind ♪ ♪ Niobrara, I am leaving you behind ♪ (upbeat guitar music) ♪ Sweet Niobrara, in the morning ♪ ♪ I will leave for Valentine ♪ ♪ Highway 12, is a fine stretch of country ♪ ♪ To clear a foggy mind ♪ ♪ Niobrara, I am leaving you ♪ ♪ Niobrara, I am leaving you ♪ ♪ Niobrara, I am leaving you behind ♪ (upbeat music)