Lincoln, Nebraska folk/Americana trio The Wildwoods recently released their new album “Dear Meadowlark” and have embarked on a nationwide tour. Made up of husband-and-wife duo Noah (guitar) and Chloe Gose (violin), and bassist Andrew Vaggalis, they have released three other albums to date and an EP.
The Wildwoods have been recognized for their songwriting, with the song “Sweet Niobrara” placing in the Rocky Mountain Songwriting Competition. The band has begun to release stripped-down “at home” versions of some of their songs on streaming. Chloe Gose spoke about the album, the “at home” recordings, and more while on the road to a performance in Richmond, Virginia.
“So The Wildwoods — we started the band back in 2012,” Chloe explained. “My husband, Noah, and my older brother, whose name is also Noah, started as a trio… Noah, my husband—we were 14 when we met, and we just kind of formed the band and started playing music together, and did that all throughout high school and through college.
“Once we graduated college, it was during COVID time—in 2021, still—so we started touring as a duo during that time. Andy, who plays bass and sings with us now, joined our band right after we graduated high school in 2017. We had a bigger lineup of musicians playing with us then—we were like a five- or six-piece band. But when COVID started, Noah and I just did it as a duo. Then we did that for like a year. When we came home, we formed a trio again, this time with Andy.”
The Wildwoods are influenced by artists such as Watchhouse and Nickel Creek. One of their influences, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, comes through on the song “I Will Follow You to Willow.”
“The idea for it—it was first written on our, mine and Noah’s, first long tour after we graduated college,” Chloe said of the song. “And it’s kind of just about following the person that you love throughout everything in life. It was kind of that moment in both of our lives where we had just graduated school, and we were like, ‘I don’t know if we should be touring and playing music full-time. I don’t know.’ But regardless, we’re just going to follow each other and support each other’s dreams and continue doing it for as long as we can.
“This one’s kind of a more interesting one,” she said about the upbeat and poppy song “Hideaway.”
“Noah does the songwriting for our band, so even when you ask him what this song is about, he doesn’t really have a clear answer. But I think, just being full-time musicians and being on the road most of the time, it’s hard to feel comfortable with… I don’t know, always having to be ‘on’—like, we always have to be conversing and chatting with people and being on stage, having a certain persona. It’s kind of like trying to find that escape or your peaceful place among the chaos of our busy lives. And hopefully that resonates with other people too, because everyone has some sort of chaos in their life from time to time, but it’s important to find that hideaway or peaceful place.”
The song “Sweet Niobrara” is a road trip song that has resonated with fans of the trio. Chloe speculated why that is.
“I think it resonated with people because it’s about hometown, small-town life growing up in Nebraska,” she said. “There are really only Lincoln and Omaha—those are the two main cities—and everything else is farmland, small town. It’s the simplicity of the lyrics, the melody, the way the two guitars are kind of going back and forth with each other. I think the folky sound, I don’t know, resonates with people—brings back nostalgia of their hometown or just their childhood. We wrote about the Niobrara River that runs through Nebraska. We’ve spent many summers camping up near Smith Falls, so just that stretch of Highway 12 going up to Valentine—it’s so beautiful and sort of meditative. And I grew up in a small town, and that song really—when I heard it in the lyrics—I was like, it just brought me back to living in a small town as a child as well.”
“Dear Meadowlark” was recorded in Omaha by Ben Brodin at Hand Branch Studio in March of 2024.
“That was the last thing we did with him before he sold his house and moved to Los Angeles, so we wanted to get one more project in with him,” Chloe said.
The Wildwoods recently released an “at home” version of “Sweet Niobrara,” with more to come. When asked why they are re-releasing songs this way, Chloe discussed the decision.
“We’re doing stripped-down versions of some songs from the album, just at our home studio,” she said. “We recorded all of it at home. It was mixed at home. A lot of the videos we post on social media—the sound isn’t studio quality, it’s not pristine—and I think a lot of our fans like that part of our music, so we’re seeing how it resonates with people. Like, the more at-home, pared-down versions.”
The band has done two runs on the road this year so far, with more to come later in 2025.
“We’ve had really good shows so far on this run,” Chloe said. “It’s been a while since we’ve gone through some of the southern states. Like, our first stop was in Georgia, and last night we were in North Carolina. It’s cool—I always say, I wish we had come back to this area a little bit more. But maybe next time, not in the summertime. It’s so hot.”
Chloe also discussed who would be their dream tour mate.
“My number one would be Gillian Welch and David Rawlings—my favorite of all time. But I also think it would be cool to tour with The Milk Carton Kids, Watchhouse (formerly Mandolin Orange)… there are so many artists I could go on and on.”
Chloe also discussed how coming from Nebraska has aided their success.
“I think the Nebraska music scene is very special, and it’s like one of the main things that inspired Noah and me to pursue music as a career,” she said. “It’s just very uplifting. I think it’s also really cool—the variety of genres that Nebraska artists represent. And just how supportive everyone is of each other. Like, all of our friends are musicians or artists. It’s cool to see people show up for other people, other artists, even if they’ve never really heard them before or they’re not necessarily into that style of music. I think it’s really important—especially for young high school kids—to see a music community like that. To know that it’s possible. Like, just to make a living off of your art.”