Platinum-selling indie trio Wild Rivers, Khalid Yassein [guitar, vocals, keys], Devan Glover [vocals], and Andrew Oliver [lead guitar, synths], have a gift for penning introspective lyrics and genre-fluid melodies that transmit wisdom beyond their years. Since their 2022 album, Sidelines, which landed at #9 on the U.S. Spotify Debut Album Chart, they have supported The Chicks on their North American tour, seen their 2020 break-out single “Thinking ‘Bout Love” be certified Gold in Australia and Platinum in Canada, sold-out headline North American and European tours, earned over 450 million streams with 4 million monthly listeners, and were nominated for Breakthrough Group of The Year at the 2023 JUNO Awards. Wild Rivers show no signs of slowing down in 2024 as they enter the next chapter of this incredible journey, with new music on the way and a European support tour with Noah Kahan.
Wild Rivers first caught audiences’ attention with their expertly crafted harmonies and introspective lyricism on their 2016 self-titled debut, followed by two EPs (2018’s Eighty-Eight and 2020’s Songs To Break Up To). Their sophomore album, Sidelines, captured the band as they navigated their twenties, moving from the college years into the uncharted territories of adulthood. It was co-produced by Peter Katis (The National, Interpol, Sharon van Etten) and recorded in Connecticut, Los Angeles, and Khalid and Devan’s college town of Kingston, Ontario. In many ways, the group’s own story is one about embracing the unknown. Born in Canada, Khalid, who is half-Egyptian, and Devan, who spent her childhood in London, England, before returning to Canada, first connected at Queen’s University in Kingston in 2013. Starting out as an acoustic singer-songwriter project, Khalid and Devan expanded their aesthetic to a more full-bodied sound, adding multi-instrumentalist Andrew, whom Khalid calls their “Swiss army knife.”
Sonically, Wild Rivers pull from a spectrum of sounds, imbuing pop, rock, indie, and folk into each song’s blueprint. Devan explains, "We all converge on the classic songwriters. Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles and Elton John. Then today, we have influences across the map, indie, hip hop, R&B, and pop. But even in those genres, most of those artists are referencing another era of music, which we think is really cool. We like to pull our favorite parts of every genre and patch them together and see what works and see what feels good.”
To further expand their sonic horizons, Wild Rivers have been co-writing with myriot (Aurora, IDER, Halsey) and tapped Gabe Wax (Soccer Mommy, Kurt Vile, Adrienne Lenker, Jeremy Zucker) to produce their upcoming record. Building an authentic relationship with fans while channeling classic singer-songwriters and contemporary artists like Samia, Holly Humberstone and Noah Kahan has been vital to Wild Rivers’ connection with audiences.
