Ensoulment, the first full length CD by the Wyld Olde Souls, serves up an intoxicating mix of psychedelic folk spiced with both Indian music and medieval love songs. The band consists of Ivy Vale (on seductive mahogany-rich vocals, guitar, and hand percussion), Rick Reil (vocals, bouzouki, and guitars), Melissa Davis (vocals, hand percussion), Kristin Pinell Reil (vocals, flute, guitar, mandolin), and Naren Budhakar (tablas). Both Reils are also long time members of legendary power pop band The Grip Weeds. Budhakar studied with tabla maestro Samir Chatterjee and has performed with a number of eastern and western artists.
The 14-song CD release has been widely praised -- "It's good to see that someone is still exploring folk and psychedelia and doing it so well" (Tom Rapp, founder of legendary '60s band Pearls Before Swine); "haunting ethereal mystical folk music led by female chant-song as atmospheric as a moth caught under a flickering gaslight on a stormy night and simply resonating with psychedelic Celtic harmony" (The Ptolemaic Terrascope); "... their use of folk and rock instruments can't be denied, but that's where the typical is left behind. It's left far in the background as you're lifted into a wonderful realm of the ethereal, the music and sincere Pagan lyrics opening up vistas of ancient sunlight, woodlands and calming nature... a rich serenade of transcendence" (Chaos Realm).
The Wyld Olde Souls were recently nominated by The Indie Music Channel for Best Folk Group, and have also been nominated for a Hollywood Music in Media Award for their live video of Led Zeppelin classic "Gallows Pole." The Hollywood Music in Media Awards take place in November -- now in its fifth year, heralding the start of awards season. The band has also released a new video for the album's first single "Leave Her" which, like the song itself, takes one on a magical journey in a verdant green forest setting with dappled sunlight. Dreamy, trippy, with a lyrical guitar solo, lush orchestral arrangements and Vale's stunning alto, "Leave Her" begins where Lee Hazlewood's "Some Velvet Morning" left off.
Saturday, Oct. 6, The Wyld Olde Souls are slated to perform at the Made in the Berkshires Festival at The Colonial Theater in Pittsfield, Mass. You can keep current with their schedule via their website or through their twitter feed.