What happened,
date by date.

Ricky Young and Joel King’s Nashville connection expanded after an Austin gathering with Taylor Burns and the founding guitarist. The founding idea was unusual by design: several lead singers and songwriters sharing the front line.

Record note: Contemporary ABC and later Relix accounts agree on the Austin-to-Nashville formation sequence.

A&R executive Jeff Sosnow signed the new band to Interscope before it had played a live show or recorded a song. Interscope released the group partway through the debut sessions; Sosnow later brought the band to Warner Bros.

Record note: The sequence is well supported; a complete Interscope contract and termination record have not entered the archive.

Durham, Duluth, Orlando, Clearwater, and Hollywood placed the still-unreleased band on arena and theater stages while it traveled in a Ford van and small trailer.

Record note: The official Paul Simon itinerary establishes the dates; the opening role is documented by the firsthand archive.

Sosnow reunited with the band at Warner Bros. The group began the sessions that would become its self-titled debut with producer Jay Joyce, shifting toward live-in-the-room recording.

Record note: The June timing comes from the founding guitarist’s memoir; the Warner transition and production method are independently supported.

The founding guitarist’s memoir places drummer Ben Dumas joining the band in November 2012. Later secondary histories place his arrival after the 2013 debut, while an October 2013 ABC biography already identifies Dumas as a band member in its five-person lineup.

Record note: A contract, dated session log, tour settlement, or direct band-member confirmation is still needed.

The band performed "Backwoods Company," from the forthcoming debut, for Guitar Center Sessions, broadcast live from SXSW on DIRECTV.

Record note: The working tour chronology places the band at SXSW March 12-14, 2013; the session video itself does not carry an independent date.

The twelve-song Warner Bros. debut reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. “The Ceiling” became the signature early radio record, and national television followed.

Record note: The label release archive and Warner sales material support the date, chart milestone, and television history.

The Wild Feathers performed “The Ceiling” as the musical guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. CBS episode records confirm the September 6 broadcast; a supplied touring chronology lists September 5, possibly the taping date.

Record note: September 6 is corroborated as the broadcast date. September 5 remains an uncorroborated taping-date lead and is preserved rather than silently discarded.

The band moved through headlining rooms, festival stages, and support runs with Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Gary Clark Jr., Sheryl Crow, ZZ Ward, and others. Bonnaroo joined the itinerary in 2014.

Record note: The personal chronology supplies granular date leads; label, GRAMMY Museum, and press records corroborate the major touring partners.

The band released an official music video for "Hard Wind," from the self-titled debut.

Record note: Only the uploaded video establishes this release; the exact date is unconfirmed beyond the album's August 2013 release.

The band performed "If You Don't Love Me," from the self-titled debut, as a session for Relix.

Record note: Only the uploaded video establishes this session; the exact date is unconfirmed beyond the album's August 2013 release.

The band released an official music video for "Got It Wrong," from the self-titled debut, shot several months after the album's August 2013 release.

Record note: The founding guitarist has firsthand-dated the video shoot to January 29, 2014, in Silver Lake, California, with photographer Gus Black — evidenced by the homepage hero photograph (TWF-PHO-UNK-0103), taken during the same shoot. The founding guitarist has confirmed this fits the actual timeline: the video was shot a few months after the album's August 2013 release, not alongside it. The date_sort above reflects the confirmed shoot date; the video's exact upload/release date afterward is still unconfirmed.

The band recorded a Jam in the Van session in Austin, Texas, performing "Wine & Vinegar" with Mickey Raphael, Willie Nelson's longtime harmonica player, sitting in.

Record note: Only the uploaded video and its title establish this session; the exact date, and how the sit-in came about, remain unconfirmed.

The founding guitarist’s participation ended on November 21, 2015, after work on the band’s first two studio albums. He later contributed guitar to Live at the Ryman without rejoining the touring lineup.

Record note: A contemporaneous management notice fixes the date. The personal circumstances and differing participant perspectives remain outside this concise public chronology.

The second studio album arrived March 11. A sold-out Ryman homecoming followed June 25, becoming the band’s first official live album; the GRAMMY Museum hosted a Spotlight conversation and performance on August 25.

Record note: The PDF misdates the GRAMMY Museum recognition as 2024; the museum’s own event record establishes 2016.

The band’s third Jay Joyce collaboration leaned into country-rock and moved through Reprise and Warner Music Nashville. “Big Sky,” a headlining run, and major festival appearances defined the cycle.

Record note: This is the first studio album credited to a band lineup that includes Brett Moore.

With regular touring interrupted, individual members appeared in a short run of Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Lightning 100 livestreams before the band resumed full-group streams and socially distanced dates later in the year.

Record note: Jim Toombs's secondary 2020 ledger lists six individual-member livestreams between April 25 and May 6. They are grouped here as remote activity rather than represented as six Wild Feathers concerts.

After separating from its label, booking, and management structure, the band assembled eleven B-sides, demos, covers, and unreleased recordings from its first decade.

Record note: The original independent release is dated November 20, 2020; the current New West edition is dated October 21, 2022.

The self-produced fourth studio album was created largely in a VanLeer, Tennessee cabin. It became the band’s debut release for New West Records.

Record note: The official credits identify the five-member lineup and the cabin and basement recording locations.

For the first album’s tenth anniversary, the band re-recorded all twelve songs as an acoustic sequence rather than issuing a conventional remaster.

Record note: This release is cataloged separately from the five studio albums of new material.

Shooter Jennings produced the fifth studio album at Dave’s Room in North Hollywood. The credits preserve the stable Young, King, Burns, Dumas, and Moore band lineup.

Record note: The ten-song sequence and full player credits come from the official artist and label catalog.

A late-June band post described July 3–5 as the last ride before “hibernation or hiatus.” Public records establish Eddie’s Attic on July 3 and 3rd & Lindsley on July 5; City Council minutes and a same-day event guide corroborate the July 4 Phenix City booking without proving a completed set.

Record note: The hiatus post is preserved by URL and quotation in the supplied history PDF but could not be independently fetched without Instagram access. July 4 is labeled corroborated-scheduled because the available records establish the booking, not an after-the-fact set list.