WILD PONIES LAY OUT MISSION STATEMENT IN NEW SINGLE "DREAMERS"
WILD PONIES PREMIERE NEW SINGLE
“DREAMERS” VIA MOTHER CHURCH PEW
DREAMERS LP OUT AUGUST 23
Nashville-based country-folk duo Wild Ponies have released “Dreamers” the title track from their forthcoming LP out on August 23. “‘I’ve always loved the dreamers / the ones who can’t sleep at night / They worry and they wonder/ If they’ll ever get it right / It’s not easy for the dreamers / Wound too loose and hold too tight,’ sings country-folk duo Wild Ponies in their spirited new single,” says Mother Church Pew in their premiere. “‘But the world won’t change without a dream / So they whisper work and scream / To bring a new dream to the light’...And it’s true – every great idea, every dream, begins with a dreamer. With its enthusiastic, encouraging, twangy vibe, Wild Ponies draw us in, speak directly to our hearts, and let us know that our dreams are possible too.”
The song is a mission statement, the overarching theme of the album - a tribute to freedom, to life lived, love loved, and dreams dreamed in the way they wanted. It's to all the dreamers out there - the overthinkers, the people who worry, and the people who try.
“Dreamers” follows “Love You Right Now,” inspired by the band and their partner, Laura, becoming foster parents, and lead single, “‘Hurt Your Heart,” a love song about the wholesome, polyamorous, Americana dream.
LISTEN: “LOVE YOU RIGHT NOW”
LISTEN: “HURT YOUR HEART”
Over the last two decades, the band has released five albums, hosted the long-running “Wild Ponies Happy Hour” radio show on Nashville’s WSM, led nine annual distillery tour Trail Rides for fans and friends, and garnered devoted musical audiences all over the world. Their live shows, which have often totaled into the hundreds per year, are notoriously personal. Whether it’s Doug and Telisha with their acoustic guitar and upright bass, respectively, or a full rock ‘n’ roll outfit with drums and electric guitar, everyone is welcome at a Wild Ponies show and in their community.
Dreamers was recorded and produced by singer-songwriter Brandy Zdan, with co-writes with Chely Wright, Ben Glover, and Nora Jane Struthers, and features guest musicians The Sea The Sea (Chuck and Mira Costa) and Nashville pedal steel legend Fats Kaplin. It is Wild Ponies’ most ambitious record yet. These 11 songs explore what exists beyond the traditional nuclear family and detail the joys and heartbreaks they’ve experienced as part of their journey to build the life - and family - they wanted.
Years ago, on tour in Germany, a fan asked Doug and Telisha a question that stuck with them: Where are your dreams now? Not what are your dreams, but where. “Our dreams are everywhere, buzzing around like energetic bees,” they explain. “They’re deep in the earth, sprawled and gnarly like the roots of an ancient Catawba tree. They live in and out of our own bodies, making their way to the backyard in the most unconventional way and pulling to stand only minutes after being born. At times, our dreams are hard to wrangle — a wild pony on the Carolina coast wandering the dunes.”
These dreams have manifested in song, captured in musical gallops and emotional wallops. By growing both their nuclear family and wider community, especially in LGBTQIA+ spaces, Doug and Telisha have come to the realization that time may be finite, but love is infinite. “Our understanding of love has changed. It’s expanded. It’s huge and vast and so hard to hold. It spills over in ways it couldn’t have before — the way Iris topples over and laughs with her whole body at the sound of a few strums of a guitar. Or the way River croaks out a tiny whisper of ‘more hug’ before going to bed,” Doug and Telisha say. “Singing together on a dusty stage, feeling our voices do that thing that we don’t understand but that feels so good and weaves them into one. Looking out over a little crowd of people to our partner, Laura, with Iris strapped to her chest. She’s squatting down with her arms around River, and they’re smiling back at us. Our little family. Our big family. That’s where our dreams are now.”
Pre-save Dreamers HERE, and be sure to follow Wild Ponies at the links below for the latest news and updates.