The Way Down Wanderers at the Redstone Room -- September 18.
Wednesday, September 18, 8 p.m.
The Redstone Room, 129 Main Street, Davenport IA
Appropriately embarking on a Midwestern tour in support of their August release We Made a Mess in Middle America, the Americana musicians of The Way Down Wanderers return to Davenport's Redstone Room on September 18, their concert sure to demonstrate why Rolling Stone Country raved about their “intricate, hypnotic rhythms,” and why Best New Bands wrote, “Their live show is full of energy and just a damn good time.”
The group had its beginnings in 2012 when frontmen and founders Collin Krause (mandolin and fiddle) and Austin Thompson (guitar) met in their hometown of Peoria, Illinois, after joining the same band, embarking on their first tour at the respective ages of 14 and 18. That outfit quickly disbanded, but Krause and Thompson continued to write and perform together, and by the end of 2013, they had enlisted a trio of additional talents to fill the Way Down Wanderers lineup: Travis Kowalsky (banjo and fiddle), John Merikoski (drums and percussion), and John Williams (upright bass). Initiating a busy tour schedule, with the group's “Wandering West Tour” bringing them to 25 Midwestern cities in 27 days, the artists established a following for their exhilarating instrumentals, foot-stomping sing-alongs, and self-titled “restSTOMPS” – free acoustic sets performed at rest and truck stops along their tour routes. In 2014, the Way Down Wanderers were also named “Chicago's Best Emerging Artist” in the music magazine The Deli, with the ensemble's single “Dead Birds” a 2015 finalist in the International Songwriting Competition.
The Way Down Wanderers released the EPs Path to Follow and Wellspring, a live-performance recording, prior to the musicians' eponymous 2016 debut album, which led Mother Church Pew to rave, “Their brand-new, self-titled LP features rip-roaring banjo, carefree mandolin, soaring harmonies, and lush, low-end string … with some snarling guitar rock thrown in for good measure.” Relix magazine, meanwhile, wrote that the band “emerged fully formed, possessing a certain savvy that assures their ability to stand apart in a crowded field of nu-grass contenders." The band's reviews for 2019's follow-up Illusions included Country Standard Time calling its songs “uplifting, catchy, and even inspiring,” and Pop Matters stating that the album “arrived with firm mastery of its own vision.” And prior to this year's We Made a Mess in Middle America, More Like Tomorrow led to Americana Highways praising the group's "musical virtuosity and impressive harmony vocals," with No Depression adding that the recording found the Way Down Wanderers "exploring new musical territory and plumbing new emotional depths."
The Way Down Wanders bring their tour to Davenport's Redstone Room on September 18, admission to the 8 p.m. concert is $15-18, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)326-1333 and visiting CommonChordQC.com.
