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A photographic edit · 2011–2014

The road,
in photographs.

Twenty frames move from the rooms where the band took shape to the stages, miles, and private intervals that made the public life possible.

Twenty photographs · four movements

This edit follows the band from the intimacy of rehearsal rooms into the public scale of the road, then turns toward the quieter work around the stage. Every frame links back to its complete catalog record.

  1. 012011–2012

    Before the machinery

    Rehearsal rooms, borrowed stages, a van, and the first glimpse of larger rooms.

    A borrowed bedroom in Nashville with a blow-up mattress on the floor, instrument cases, a Union Jack, and music posters.
    01.01Joel's roomNovember 9, 2011 · Nashville, TennesseePhotograph by the founding guitarist
    Five musicians rehearse with guitars, drums, and microphones in a low-lit room with an American flag behind them.
    01.02Rehearsal in the flag roomOctober 2, 2012Photographer unknown
    The founding guitarist smiling with a guitar onstage in an empty theater after soundcheck.
    01.03After soundcheck at DPACDecember 1, 2011 · Durham Performing Arts Center, Durham, North CarolinaSelf-portrait by the founding guitarist
    The Wild Feathers' white Ford van and Route 66 trailer parked beside a large tour bus in Duluth, Georgia.
    01.04The van beside the busesDecember 2, 2011 · The Arena at Gwinnett Center, Duluth, GeorgiaPhotograph by the founding guitarist
    Six people gathered around a green sofa in front of a hotel Christmas tree after the Duluth show.
    01.05Two in the morning, DuluthDecember 3, 2011 · Duluth, Georgia; hotel not identifiedPhotographer unknown

  2. 022013

    The road opens

    Empty rooms became crowded ones. Hand-lettered marquees, roadside songs, and the view back from the stage kept the scale human.

    An empty concert room during load-in, with two people working on a stage holding drums, amplifiers, microphone stands, monitors, and a red hand truck.
    02.01Before the room fillsFebruary 2, 2013 · Jackson, Mississippi (venue context; no GPS in file)Photographer unknown
    A venue banner outside The Nick naming The Wild Feathers and Great American Taxi.
    02.02Handmade letters at The NickFebruary 7, 2013 · Birmingham, AlabamaPhotographer unknown
    Members of The Wild Feathers playing outside the Tennessee Alabama Fireworks store near South Pittsburg.
    02.03Fireworks-stand jamFebruary 12, 2013 · South Pittsburg, Tennessee areaPhotographer unknown
    Four members of The Wild Feathers posing at the front of the stage with the Laramie audience behind them.
    02.04Laramie from the stageJune 2, 2013 · Laramie, WyomingPhotographer unknown
    Willie Nelson performing at left while members and associates of The Wild Feathers gather around a center microphone under purple stage lights.
    02.05Sharing the stage with Willie NelsonAugust 2013 Willie Nelson run; exact night unknownPhotographer unknown

  3. 032013–2014

    A public life

    The debut-era portrait gives way to release night, television doors, theater marquees, and a band caught between appointments.

    Five members of The Wild Feathers posed shoulder to shoulder before a chevron-patterned wooden wall.
    03.01The five-member debut-era portraitPublished by November 22, 2013; capture date unknownPhoto: Frank Maddocks · Courtesy of Warner Bros.
    A large group of Wild Feathers members and friends laughing together during an album-release celebration in Los Angeles.
    03.02Album-release night in Los AngelesAugust 12, 2013 · Los Angeles, CaliforniaPhotographer unknown
    A dressing-room placard bearing the Conan logo and the name The Wild Feathers.
    03.03The Conan dressing-room doorDecember 4, 2013 · Los Angeles, CaliforniaPhotographer unknown
    The Warfield marquee advertising Dwight Yoakam with The Wild Feathers on December 7.
    03.04The Warfield marqueeDecember 7, 2013 · San Francisco, CaliforniaPhotographer unknown
    Five members of The Wild Feathers seated together outdoors in front of a rough stone wall, smiling and looking toward one another in a black-and-white panoramic portrait.
    03.05Five members by the stone wallJanuary 29, 2014 · Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CaliforniaPhotograph by Gus Black

  4. 042014

    The life around the stage

    Soundcheck, travel, writing, the crowd, and the huddle before the next room: the work surrounding the performance becomes the story.

    Audley Freed sitting alone at a park bench and playing acoustic guitar before soundcheck in Littleton, Colorado.
    04.01Audley Freed before soundcheckAugust 13, 2014 · Littleton, ColoradoPhotograph by the founding guitarist
    Five members of The Wild Feathers pose at Barceloneta Beach with the W Barcelona hotel visible in the distance.
    04.02The band at Barceloneta BeachSeptember 23, 2014 · Barceloneta Beach, Barcelona, Catalonia, SpainPhotographer unknown
    A black-and-white photograph shows one person working with an acoustic guitar and notebook on a Barcelona apartment couch while the founding guitarist sits beside them holding a bottle.
    04.03Writing in the Barcelona apartmentSeptember 29, 2014 · Barcelona, SpainPhotographer unknown
    The founding guitarist and Ben Dumas taking a stage self-portrait with a cheering Barcelona audience behind them.
    04.04The founding guitarist and Ben Dumas with the Barcelona crowdOctober 2, 2014 · Barcelona, SpainStage self-portrait by the founding guitarist or Ben Dumas; creator unresolved
    Several unidentified Wild Feathers members and associates embracing in a backstage huddle at Emo’s in Austin.
    04.05A huddle at Emo’sAugust 17, 2014 · Emo’s, Austin, TexasPhotographer unknown