The Arcadian Wild Share New Single 'Shoulders' From New Album 'Welcome'

Nashville’s The Arcadian Wild shared the new single “Shoulders” from their forthcoming album Welcome, which will be released on July 21 via Vere Music. The band have also shared a music video for the poignant track.

Under The Radar featured the song saying, “'Shoulders' is a gorgeously arranged and achingly sincere effort, offering a poignant tribute to loved ones who lift us up and support us. Mandolinist and singer Lincoln Mick delivers his lyrics with a gentle smile and wistful tone, backed by keening swells of strings and lovely vocal harmonies. The track offers a careful balance between stark emotion and sweeping arrangements, allowing the band’s disarming charm to belie their careful craftsmanship. It’s the sort of song that perfectly fits the album’s title, steeping the band in warmth and welcome for all who listen."

“​​I don’t often remember my dreams,” says Lincoln Mick of the song. “I love when others share with me about their dreams - it feels like I’m privileged to special information, the unfiltered and unrefined nuggets of the truthful imagination. My dad gifted me with this gem a couple years ago. On an early morning, he and I walked out onto an airfield together and boarded a plane. We were the only two people on board, and to his great surprise, I made a beeline for the cockpit, flipped on all the instruments, and prepared to take off. (For context, I am NOT a pilot in real life, so this was likely quite alarming for my father.)

We got off the ground and began cruising at altitude, soaring high above the earth. He was dumbfounded. ‘Lincoln, I didn’t know you could do this. When did you learn how to fly a plane?’ In the dream, I didn’t answer his question. Rude. It seems to me that our unconscious mind wields a great wisdom that far surpasses our conscious one, and every once in a while, we hear its echo ringing faintly through the halls of our awareness, whether through a dream or a prayer or some other revelatory experience.”

‘Shoulders’ is a reimagining of my father’s dream, and this time, I answer his question with grateful eagerness. I learned to fly watching him, and I modeled my wings after his. I hope this tune can serve as a word of deep thankfulness to those who helped us get off the ground, who lovingly fathered and mothered us into the atmosphere, perhaps even in ways they have yet to fully understand.”

Consisting of guitarist Isaac Horn, mandolinist Lincoln Mick, and fiddler Bailey Warren, the genre-bending trio wrote and recorded Welcome in their hometown of Nashville, TN, working with engineer Logan Matheny (Colony House, Hiss Golden Messenger) and mixer Shani Gandhi (Sarah Jarosz, Sierra Hull).

The band approached the recording sessions for the album as live as possible, embracing the organic feel of their concerts with the help of double bassist Erik Coveney (Sierra Hull, Dave Barnes), who joined them on the studio floor. The band doesn't record or perform with drums or percussion, but instead relies on their vocals and instrumentations to provide the backbeat.

“When we’re working on arrangements, we try to treat our band like a drum set: who is the kick, who is the snare, who is the crash, hi hat, etc. This approach helps each of us find our specific role in any given moment or section of the song, which again leads to a much more intentional and conversational arrangement.”

The Arcadian Wild cut their teeth playing house shows, where they learned to treat their audience like family, and released their self-titled debut to widespread praise in 2015, racking up nearly 50 million streams on Spotify alone. Heavy touring followed and the group returned in 2019 with a second full-length LP, Finch In The Pantry, which debuted in the Top 10 on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart.

When the pandemic forced the trio off the road in 2020, they shifted their focus to composing and recording a multi-movement song cycle that resulted in the 2021 EP Principum, which reached #3 on the Billboard Bluegrass Chart and helped earn the band performances everywhere from the Woody Guthrie Center to the Ryman Auditorium.

Tour Dates

July 11 - Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theater
July 12 - Raleigh, NC @ The Pour House Music Hall
July 13 - Greer, NC @ The Spinning Jenny
July 14 - Dalton, GA @ OFf The Rails Summer Music Series
July 15 - Murfreesboro, TN @ Hop Springs
July 23 - Bardstown, KY @ Spalding Hall
July 25 - Lawrence, KS @ Venue 1235
July 26 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
July 27 - Sioux Falls, SD @ Levitt at Sioux Falls
July 28 - Iowa City, IA @ Wildwood
July 29 - Evanston, IL @ SPACE
July 30 - Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi
August 3 - Huntsville, AL @ The Common House
September 5 - Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
September 6 - Portland, OR @ Alberta Rose Theatre
September 10 - Mill Valley, CA @ Sweetwater Music Hall
September 12 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe's Alley
September 13 - Morro Bay, CA @ The Siren
September 14 - Los Angeles, CA @ Knitting Factory - North Hollywood
September 15 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Rebel Lounge
September 17 - Louisville, KY @ Bourbon & Beyond Festival
September 20-23 - Nashville, TN @ AMERICANAFEST
September 29 - Chattanooga, TN @ Songbirds
September 30 - Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre
October 12 - Newberry, SC @ Newberry Opera House
October 17 - St. Louis, MO @ City Winery St. Louis
October 18 - Davenport, IA @  Redstone Room
October 20 - Green Lake, WI @ Thrasher Opera House
October 21 - Fort Wayne, IN @ Baker Street Centre
October 22 - Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell's Eccentric Cafe
November 1 - Birmingham, AL @ Woodlawn Theatre Bham
November 2 - Macon, GA @ Grant's Lounge
November 3 - Jacksonville, FL @ Murray Hill Theatre
November 7 - Jackson, MS @ Duling Hall
November 9 - The Woodlands, TX @ Dosey Doe Big Barn
November 10 - Austin, TX @ Saxon Pub
November 11 - Fort Worth, TX @ Tulips FTW
November 12 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Beer City Music Hall
November 13 - Tulsa, OK @ Mercury Lounge
November 14 - Fayetteville, AR @ George's Majestic Lounge

Photo Credit: Shelby Mick

To post a comment, you must register and login.