By Aaron Irons
The Arcadian Wild finds uplift and grace amid warm harmonies on Welcome, the Music City string band’s latest effort, which blends elegance and heart-swelling dynamics with endearing revelations. Equal parts meditation and jubilation, Welcome offers connection and understanding in an era when such notions are at a premium.
Lincoln Mick formed The Arcadian Wild with Isaac Horn in 2013, segueing from guitar to mandolin to develop a sound that draws emotionally from the realms of folk, bluegrass, and pop.
“About a year after [the band] started is when Isaac joined,” says Mick. “He obviously plays the guitar—and he was a lot better than I was. We figured we didn’t need two people doing the same thing, or at least a second person doing the same job poorly. So I picked up the mandolin out of necessity just to give the band another dimension, and I’ve been stumbling my way through it since 2014. Now it’s my primary instrument.”
In 2015, the band released a self-titled debut followed by a series of singles, an EP, and in 2019, Finch in the Pantry, a streamlined and charged album that capitalized on a leaner, more calculated approach balancing tradition with innovation.
“With Finch in the Pantry, we maybe sort of had a bit of a chip on our shoulder,” Mick says. “Isaac and I didn’t actually grow up really listening to a lot of music that’s similar to the music that we make now. We didn’t listen to a lot of folk and traditional bluegrass or old-time stuff. We were listening to a lot of alt-rock and pop punk, which is really funny.”
Prone to a pop sensibility over improvisation or traditional bluegrass pickin’, The Arcadian Wild decided to “just make convoluted, thoroughly arranged music that can make an impression on people,” says Mick. “We really love that record and we’re really proud of it. We still play all of those songs very joyfully whenever we perform and we’re on the road.”
The mini-epic 2021 EP Principium evolved those arrangements through precision timing and bracing rhythms for an interpretation of the Garden of Eden in four parts with accompanying cinematic videos. Conceived a few years prior, the EP came to life during the pandemic.
“We knew we weren’t going much of anywhere, so we figured we’d dig that back up. I think it was good because we had a higher level of facility and a higher level of clarity about what we wanted things to sound like,” Mick says of the decision to revisit older material. “I think that time on the back burner served that piece really, really well.”
Now comes Welcome, a full-length album recorded in Nashville with producer Logan Matheny (Big Light Studio). It’s The Arcadian Wild having grown more seasoned, tested, and aware than ever before.
“With Welcome I think we’ve dialed back the desire to aim to impress anyone,” says Mick. “With this record, our goal was to just write songs that were as beautiful as we could possibly make them and told the truth as best as we understood it at this moment … and let’s just trust that good things are going to emerge if we’re obedient to the process.”
As The Arcadian Wild carries Welcome to the masses, the core of Mick, Horn, and Bailey Warren (fiddle) will be joined by upright bassist Eli Broxham. “Our bass player Eli, who’s on tour with us this season, he’s amazing, and he’s one of those guys who can play the upright bass like a fiddle, “ Mick says. “It’s really amusing because the bass is the most improvisatory instrument in our ensemble right now.”
“He’s been really great, gently and sweetly encouraging us to trust ourselves and take risks and not be afraid to fall down while we’re onstage and performing,” Mick says. “Whenever you step out to do a little improvising in a show, that moment happens, and then it’s gone. And then there’s so much song left. It’s like, ‘It’s okay. Just continue moving forward, everyone else is. Time has not stopped. You don’t have to wallow in your failure. There’s so much good work left to do and you’re ready to do it and it’s gonna be okay.’”