Country and folk music have long featured sibling duos. The Louvin Brothers and Stanley Brothers helped introduce blood harmonies to the world of country and bluegrass. Now, indie folk/Americana duo The Wildmans are continuing that tradition. They’ll release Longtime Friend, their debut album on New West Records, later this year. Today (May 15), American Songwriter is proud to premiere the standout track “Autumn 1941” from the forthcoming release.
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Aila and Elisha Wildman grew up in Floyd, Virginia, surrounded by bluegrass and old-time music. While they’ve worked to make a name for themselves in the alt-country and indie folk sphere, those rich traditional roots are evident in the cuts from their forthcoming record. The storytelling, Aila’s vocal delivery, and the siblings’ harmonies all carry the fingerprints of generations of mountain music. This is especially true in “Autumn 1941.”
With “Autumn 1941,” the Wildmans aren’t retreading familiar ground. Instead, they tapped into untold stories of the Appalachian region. In the lyrics, they tell the story of a young girl who was marked to be culled for a WWII-era eugenics project and was saved by her mother’s steely resolve.
The Wildmans on “Autumn 1941”
Ahead of today’s premiere, the Wildmans revealed the meaning behind the song and why they chose to include it on Longtime Friend.
“We first heard ‘Autumn 1941’ when co-writers Roger Brown, former Berklee College of Music President, and Mark Simos, Berklee songwriting professor, brought it to us,” the duo revealed. “They thought we would connect to the story being from this region and this being a part of Appalachian history not often told. The story hails from Roger’s Appalachian roots, and it was passed down through his family. Different versions of this story of eugenics prove to be true across Appalachian regions and more largely other minorities throughout American early-mid 20th century history. It immediately sparked interest—this story being so close to home, yet unlike anything we had heard before,” they explained.
“Our good friend Dori Freeman, who is singing the background vocals on this track, told us she had read a book about this same movement in Virginia and communities like Floyd, our hometown,” they said. ”We felt we could take this song and make it our own. Once we got into the studio with it, the song just flowed and out of it came a haunting authenticity we hadn’t yet discovered in our music.”
Longtime Friend will hit record stores and digital streaming platforms on July 11. Pre-order or pre-save a copy today via New West Records.
Featured Image by Magnolia Ellenburg
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