Wild Skies
Chicago, Illinois, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2014
Music
Press
Each song is unique in its own right, but they all sound like Wild Skies. - The Bluegrass Situation
This album, all told, is excellent. It’s the kind of music that drew me to become a music blogger in the first place. They remind me of bands like Post Script, Jus Post Bellum, and Native Sibling who we’ve covered here in the past. We don’t really do star ratings or anything around here, but this is a “must own” for serious fans of pop folk music. - Ear to the Ground
A band that is clearly ready for its close-up is Wild Skies. One might want to seek this band out now and see it live, because it’s only a matter of time before it is playing sold-out, headlining shows around the world.
Bassist Good brings his jazz chops to the group and drummer Kearns’s understated drumming is the heartbeat of its sound. Sorum-Williams, who trained as an opera singer has the kind of voice that is impossible to forget. Her clear, passionate, full, rich voice grabs one’s attention and the listener becomes swept up in the music. There’s a hint of soul in her powerful delivery and plenty of authentic country and western. As great as the group’s songs are and as tight as its sound is, it’s Sorum-Williams’s voice that will catapult this band once people become exposed to it. Proving just how much talent there is in this diverse group, Lechlak also takes his vocal turns, giving the group two excellent lead singers. - Scenes Media
The upcoming release from Wild Skies, From Far Below, captures the heartbeat of Chicago wrapped neatly in between big harmonies and simple bouncing percussions that move each new story. - Paste Magazine
Wild Skies is the result of a brash barrage of inspirations—yet, with all these contrasting tendencies, the band never feels like anything less than a completely singular purveyor of graceful and bombastic folk rhythms and melodies.
On their recent single, "Fumes & Faith," the band wanders through a pristine Americana landscape where the scars of past loves mingle with the hopes of the future. Guitars shimmer in the shadows while voices are raised together and thrown out against the world. Persuasive in its simplicity of earnest emotion, the song transcends its own folk rock history to approach a more communal awareness. There's a freeing sense of momentum that allows the song to leave the confines of its earthly origins and drift upward toward the lower atmosphere, to a place where the distillation of all these sounds and experiences results in a pure folk euphoria that washes over you in dramatic tidal motions. - Nooga.com
Back to the hand-clapping awesomeness, Wild Skies are THE folk band you were looking for. Seriously they are great. The harmonies are by far the best part, but the lyrics are pretty snazzy too. They have a jubilant, youthful flavor and a lyrical complexity that smacks of greater maturity. The attitude in “Letters” is something we can all connect with and the opening harmonies on “Carry On” are pretty much amazing. I’d love to hear these cats live! - Ear to the Ground
Well, just when you thought you were recovering from their addictive sound, Wild Skies is about to cause a relapse because that first single, “Fumes & Faith” was just the tip of the iceberg when diving into those trademark harmonies and storytelling songs on their debut album, From Far Below. - Wordkrapht
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
While Wild Skies has carved out their own, unique sound at the intersection of folk, rock & Americana, the band members have come from all different musical backgrounds, each of them bringing a different perspective to the collaboration. That diversity, at its core, is what helped Wild Skies forge their own path and distinctive sound.
The Chicago based foursome came together through a series of Craigslist ads posted by Ohio transplant and singer/songwriter Aaron Lechlak while searching for band members to help with studio work in early 2014. Teaming up with opera trained singer Kristine Sorum-Williams, jazz bassist Tommy Good, and folk drummer Andy Kearns, what began as a solo project evolved into a three-part harmonic melting pot of folk-rock.
The group pulls largely from modern indie/folk influences, with big harmony hooks and anthemic finishes, though at the heart of it is music rooted in a blend of the American music they grew up on. The newest release conveys heartache, loss and the everyday challenges of growing up and finding a place in the world. Lechlak and Sorum-Williams trade off taking the lead, and the group leans often on almost familial three-part harmonies throughout.
In early 2016, after a major shakeup in their lineup, the band hit reset and began writing and rehearsing as a four-piece. The stripped down sound gave the group a better appreciation for the simple; requiring them to lean heavily on their vocal harmonies to achieve the big sound they were looking for.
Enlisting the help of engineer Chris Harden (Hard Working Americans, Rachael Yamagata, Plain White T’s) the four began work on an 8 song LP in the summer of 2016. The result will be the group’s first studio effort as a full band. A natural evolution from their more casual 2014 debut, the record maintains an organic, acoustic driven backbone, but introduces electric textures, better developed vocal harmonies, and more seasoned songwriting and storytelling.
Band Members
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