Nashville genre-bending trio The Arcadian Wild have announced their new album Welcome, to be released on July 21 via Vere Music. Along with the announcement they’ve shared the first single “Dopamine,” a punchy track that confronts the insidious ways that smartphones and social media have hijacked our brains.
Stream “Dopamine” HERE
“‘Dopamine’ is about an endless cycle in which I am admittedly caught up,” says mandolinist Lincoln Mick. “One of the voices of the song belongs to the proverbial ‘man behind the curtain’ of the technologies, tools, and platforms of this age - someone whose primary objective is to harness and commodify our two most valuable assets: our TIME and our ATTENTION. The other voices represent our collective voice, as we work to sift for the truth amidst all the alternative stories being broadcast to us at every moment of every day. I thought it would be fun to create a progressive, cacophonous verse that felt reflective of the overstimulation so many of us experience. Isaac and Bailey and I sing entirely separate lyrics and melodies over top of one another in certain moments to embody that story-counter-story premise.”
Written and recorded in The Arcadian Wild’s hometown of Nashville, TN, Welcome marks the start of a captivating new chapter for the trio consisting of guitarist Isaac Horn, mandolinist Lincoln Mick, and fiddler Bailey Warren, who returned to the studio with renewed purpose and insight after devoting the last few years to a series of critically acclaimed singles and EPs. Like much of the band’s catalog, the album blurs the lines between chamber folk and progressive bluegrass, drawing on everything from country and classical to pop and choral music with lush harmonies and dazzling fretwork, but this time around there’s a rawness to the writing, an embrace of candor and simplicity that cuts straight to the heart like never before. The result is perhaps the most arresting collection yet from a band known for its ability to stop listeners dead in their tracks, an exquisitely beautiful celebration of community, connection, and the power of belonging that feels tailor-made for these challenging times.
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 Welcome 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.
Welcome Tracklist:
1. Lara
2. Dopamine
3. Big Sky, MT
4. Shoulders
5. Little Bird
6. Sparrow
7. Corner
8. Gàrradh Seileach
9. Lift My Head
10. Two Kinds
11. Fable Of The Times
12. The End
Tour Dates:
April 14 - Three Oaks, MI @ Acorn Theater
April 15 - Aurora, IL @ The Venue Aurora
April 19 - Chattanooga, TN @ Barrelhouse Ballroom
April 29 - Nashville, TN @ Bright Shade Music Festival
May 11 - Greer, SC @ Albino Skunk Music Festival
May 30 - Knoxville, TN @ Open Chord
May 31 - Johnson City, TN @ The Down Home
June 1 - Charlottesville, VA @ The Southern Cafe and Music Hall
June 2 - Washington, DC @ The Hamilton
June 3 - Annapolis, MD @ Rams Head On Stage
June 4 - Philadelphia, PA @ City Winery Philadelphia
June 5 - New York, NY @ The Mercury Lounge
June 7 - Boston, MA @ City Winery Boston
June 8 - Syracuse, NY @ Funk n Waffles
June 9 - Buffalo, NY @ Sportsmens Tavern
June 10 - Millvale, PA @ The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls
June 11 - Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe
June 23 - Lexington, KY @ The Burl
June 24 - Asheville, NC @ The Grey Eagle
June 25 - Mount Solon, VA @ Red Wing Roots Music Festival
June 30 - Crested Butte, CO @ Public House
July 1 - Manitou Springs, CO @ Lulu's Downstairs
July 2 - Denver, CO @ Soiled Dove Underground
July 23 - Bardstown, KY @ Spalding Hall
July 26 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
July 27 - Sioux Falls, SD @ Levitt at Sioux Falls
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 10 - Mill Valley, CA @ Sweetwater Music Hall
September 17 - Louisville, KY @ Bourbon & Beyond Festival
