Myrna Jacobs
The band’s debut album was produced by Mike Marsh, drummer for the Avett Brothers.
It’s a long way from their hometown of Peoria, Illinois, to — well, anywhere, but Austin Thompson and Collin Krause, frontmen of the up-and-coming Americana band the Way Down Wanderers, got there together.
“There” is smack-dab in the middle of Chicago’s growing folk music scene, where Thompson and Krause are spending their late teens and early 20s composing newgrass music that sprints right up to the jam band line then takes three steps back.
The youthful quintet, which plays the High Noon Saloon on Sept. 7, has gained attention from some big names since moving to Chicago a couple of years ago. Thompson, who covers keys, vocals and guitar, says moving to a bigger market has provided more venues and exposure for the band.
The top-of-the-line production of their self-titled new record, The Way Down Wanderers, is Exhibit A. It started with a drum lesson.
The band met Avett Brothers drummer Mike Marsh at a music festival in Traverse City, Michigan. With their layered vocals and polymorphic folk melodies, the Avetts were a favorite of all the band members, but particularly Wanderers drummer John Merikoski, who asked Marsh for a private lesson.
At the lesson, which took place in Nashville, Merikoski talked with Marsh about pre-production of the Wanderers’ new project. Marsh got excited and before long, he traveled to Chicago to work with the band for a week. From there, Marsh oversaw the recording of the album at Sonic Ranch Studios in El Paso, Texas.
“Timing things. Texture and tone. He spent days in the studio mapping things out with us,” says Thompson, calling Marsh a “determined and committed” producer.
Marsh is also well-connected. Thanks to his elaborate Nashville rolodex, the Wanderers’ new record includes contributions from, among others, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Critter Fuqua, Nashville pedal steel savant Michael Douchette and El Paso jazz great Billy Townes on keys.
The result is a dozen tracks that sound like the product of a musician raised on the Beatles and Dixie Chicks, something Thompson readily admits. He also credits the harmonies of the Avett Brothers for inspiring the album’s vocal sound. Listeners who enjoy the the sparkle and charm of another trailblazing folk act, the Birds of Chicago, will enjoy The Way Down Wanderers.
Take “Sweet Morning Vision,” which was written two years ago when Krause was only 17. While the song, which gets tugged along by Krause’s gorgeous country fiddle, lacks lyrical depth, the composition shows profound musical maturity. Like the rest of the tracks, it suggests that these gifted young musicians will wander very far from Peoria before they’re done.
