Galax

Description

Galax pays tribute to the powerful music and rugged landscape of Southwest Virginia, where both Wild Ponies' members Doug and Telisha Williams were born and raised. There, in mountain towns like Galax, old-time American music continues to thrive, supported by a community of fiddlers, flat-pickers, and fans. The stripped-back album nods to the band's history while still pushing forward. Recorded in the shed behind Doug's old family farm in the Appalachians (steps away from the site where Doug and Telisha were married), Galax returns Wild Ponies to their musical and geographic roots. Galax's track list is filled with upright bass, acoustic guitar, twin fiddles, Telecaster, banjo, pedal steel, mandolin, harmonies, gang vocals, and even some stripped-down percussion. Every song was recorded live, never once pausing the process to listen to the performance they'd just captured. It wasn't until Wild Ponies returned home to Nashville that they finally heard the wild magic documented during those mountaintop sessions. Bridging the gap between old and new, the album features revered old-time players Snake Smith, Kyle Dean Smith, and Kilby Spencer from its namesake, Galax, Virginia, and some of the band's favorite musicians from Nashville: Fats Kaplin, Will Kimbrough, Neilson Hubbard, and Audrey Spillman to create a modern masterpiece with traditional folk influences.