Wild Rivers is a Canadian folk band made up of vocalist Devan Glover, guitarist Andrew Oliver, and guitarist-vocalist Khalid Yassein. The band released their self-titled debut album in 2016. Since then, they’ve taken the Canadian indie scene and the summer festival circuit by storm. They’re on their way back to Alberta for two shows in April.
We spoke with Khalid Yassein, who says Wild Rivers released two albums in 2024. Never Better came first, and was followed by Better Now. Yassein says that although they are separate records, they are connected. “I see them as two sides of the same coin, or even as one big album. We recorded them in one recording session. We just had so much music that we were excited about. We had 14 or 15 songs, and things were moving quickly, creatively.”
Rather than put out a double album or pare down the choice of songs, Yassein says simply, “We felt like we had made two albums that could stand on their own.”
Never Better, is direct and immediate. “We wanted to challenge ourselves to put bold strokes on the page.” Better Now is reflective, and feels like a musical echo. “A lot of the songs are about breakups and relationships and coming of age. Those feelings are complicated. You have the initial sting or reaction, and then you sit with the situation for while, so that’s the range of emotions we explored with the two albums.”
Over the years, Wild Rivers has been described as both folk and pop. Yassein says, “We have a tough time with the ‘elevator pitch’ for the band, but right now we are a folk band trying to be a rock band.”
Singer-songwriters, many of them from decades gone by, serve as musical inspiration for the band. “My favourite music is from the singer-songwriters and bands of the 60s and 70s,” says Yassein. He mentions James Taylor and Paul Simon and The Beatles as musical acts that “contain multitudes,” and says “They all had albums that were wildly different from each other, but the song is king. You could play a song on a piano or an acoustic guitar, but it’s still the same song. That’s our compass.”
“When we started Wild Rivers ten years ago, the folk festivals didn’t think we were folky enough, and the indie festivals didn’t think we were indie enough. And the country festivals told us we definitely weren’t country, either. Now we are starting to play all of those festivals.”
Yassein says he doesn’t fault people for trying to define things, and says that the band’s versatility and range have proved to be more of an advantage than a disadvantage. “People like all kind of music.”
As summer approaches, Wild Rivers mentions last year’s Alberta folk festival shows as favourites. “It’s just the best. Western Canada has been great to us, and Edmonton in particular has raised its hand over the past years as a city that really loves this band.”
He adds, “We know what our show is now. We are confident in our music and our songs, and we try to have no pretension. We just want to be a bunch of friends making music and connecting with people. If you show up as your true, authentic self, it often resonates. We’ve been lucky. We’ve put in the road hours to feel like we are bringing our true selves every night, and we’re rewarded with great people loving our music.”
Wild Rivers plays the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton April 16, and MacEwan Hall in Calgary on April 17. Find tickets and info at wildriversmusic.com
“I Want Everything” is from Wild Rivers’ 2024 album Better Now.
