Wild Child performing during the Drive-in Series at Love and Lightstream in Cedar Park, Texas on October 25, 2020, with Kelsey Wilson, Alexander Beggins, Matt Bradshaw, Taylor Craft, Cody Ackors, and Tom Myers. (Photo: Ralph Arvesen)
Wild Child won't settle. For seven years now the Austin-based ensemble has carried its infectious blend of indie-pop and infectious melodies across the international music scene, charting viral hits and wrapping their arms around a diverse and dedicated fan base. But earlier this year when the band set out to make their fourth studio album, they found they had their hands full: After half a decade of maturation, the group had grown beyond its traditional writing and recording process. “We had too many ideas for how we wanted to make this record” says Kelsey Wilson, the group’s lead vocalist and violinist. She shrugs. “So we said, ‘Why not just do all of them?’”Wild Child was the main act at the Haute Spot with guests Matthew Logan Vasquez, The Deer, Ley Line, and Altamesa.
The group realized this offered an exciting opportunity to make a kind of record bands rarely get right: To take a new, multispectral approach to writing and recording that went beyond simply trying to engineer success. The band made a list of their favorite musicians who were also great producers in their own right — choosing ones they thought would shine a new and unique light on specific compositions, and then Wild Child set about chasing their album from studio to studio all over the world, never saying no to an idea.
The result, the band’s fourth album, Expectationsm, is Wild Child’s most creative, colorful and intellectually engaging album to date. Now a seven-piece pop mini-orchestra (Wilson on violin and vocals; Alexander Beggins on ukulele and vocals; Sadie Wolfe on cello; Matt Bradshaw on keyboards, trumpet, and harmonica; Tom Myers on drums; Cody Ackors on guitar and trombone; and Tyler Osmond on bass), Wild Child formed in 2010 when the group's core duo of Wilson and Beggins wrote and released their first album, Pillow Talk.
Love & Lightstream is a wide open-air, socially distant, drive-in concert on 77 acres. Proceeds go to HAAM/Black Fret, artists and production. As the music industry continues to take devastating hits from the COVID-19 pandemic, Love & Lightstream aims to launch a movement to experience live music again and support the local music community in a safe, responsible and beautiful way.
Each concert will be implemented with the utmost in social distancing and safety protocols. Only 200 cars will be admitted on-site each evening and a free live-stream will be available for world-wide viewing on the L&LS website.
Love & Lightstream has teamed up with Werd Productions to bring you the full festival experience; SL festival stage, huge sound system, killer lighting and two huge LED walls with video crew to make sure there’s no bad seat in the house. These companies have put on world-class production for years and are excited to bring their teams to provide you with an unforgettable experience.
Love & Lightstream
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Wild Child
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Photos by Ralph Arvesen
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