Show Spotlight

The Wildwoods & Old Tom – The Press Room – July 14

The first thing I noticed talking with The Wildwoods wasn’t anything about touring, recording or even Nebraska. It was how quickly the conversation drifted away from the past year and back toward the songs themselves.

Dear Meadowlark has been out long enough to become part of the band’s everyday life. They’ve carried it across the country and introduced it to audiences overseas during their first European tour. Instead of talking about success or milestones, they talked about how those songs have continued changing.

“When you’re recording an album, you’re so focused on getting every little detail right that it’s hard to imagine what those songs will eventually become,” Chloe Gose said. “After playing them night after night, they’ve almost taken on lives of their own. Some songs have grown in ways I never expected because of the audience’s reaction, and others have become more personal to me simply because of all the memories we’ve made while playing them across the country.”

That answer stuck with me for the rest of the interview. Most artists eventually steer the conversation toward accomplishments. Chloe kept steering it back toward the songs. Once they leave the studio, they stop belonging only to the people who wrote them. They change with every audience, every room and every night on the road.

Over four full-length albums, appearances on Mountain Stage, an Audiotree session and steady touring, Chloe Gose, Noah Gose and Andrew Vaggalis have built their audience one room at a time. There wasn’t one defining viral moment. They earned it by showing up again and again, and that patience shows up in the music.

Growing up in Nebraska naturally came up during our conversation, but not because anyone was trying to romanticize it. Chloe described a place that teaches you to appreciate quieter moments instead of waiting for something spectacular to happen.

“I think growing up in Nebraska has taught me to notice the quieter things,” She said. “There aren’t always dramatic landscapes or huge moments demanding your attention, so you learn to find beauty in solitude and the mundane.”

The more I listened, the more I realized that perspective explains a lot about their songwriting. Even after years of touring, there’s still a sense of patience running through everything they do. Home and the road pull against one another now, and instead of trying to resolve that tension, the band just lets it linger. It has quietly found its way into Noah’s songwriting without becoming the point of every song.

Their newest single, “Grenadine Red,” feels like another example of that. The band doesn’t see it as a dramatic departure from Dear Meadowlark. Instead, they talked about it as another step forward, connecting what they’ve already written with whatever comes next.

Naturally, I asked about the harmonies because they’re usually the first thing listeners notice. They certainly were for me. Chloe pointed somewhere much simpler than technique.

“I think we’ve learned that trust is probably more important than talent,” Chloe Gose said. “We’ve spent so many years making music together that we know each other’s instincts really well now.”

She explained that harmonies are never added just because people expect them from a folk trio. “Our goal is never to make the harmonies impressive. They’re there to help tell the story and support the melody to create a certain emotion.” Listening back after the interview, it was obvious that the vocal arrangements had been made with intention. They never appeared to draw attention to themselves. They seemed to serve each song.

A few days later I was talking with Alex from Old Tom, and the contrast between these artists made this lineup even more interesting. The Wildwoods are arriving with songs that have spent months growing on the road. Alex is bringing songs that are still figuring themselves out.

“I’ll be playing a handful of songs that are newer that I haven’t fleshed out with the band just yet,” he said. “Playing solo allows me to experiment a little more with newer material. I’m excited to break out some new songs at this show.”

He described how ‘Grafton Rabbits’ exists in two different recordings because every song asks for something different. Some deserve a full band. Others need nothing more than a voice and an acoustic guitar. That flexibility carries into the songs he’ll introduce in Portsmouth.

One, ‘Jesus Michael,’ begins with a misunderstanding before becoming a story about fathers and sons. Another, ‘Monsters Anyhow,’ borrows from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein while reflecting on living with bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression. They’re heavy subjects but they’re approached with honesty rather than self-importance.

When I asked why he keeps writing from such personal places, his answer was direct. “I want to be here more than I did when I was 13 or 25,” he said. “I’m choosing to show up more now than I did and I want to continue that because it feels good.”

When I mentioned sharing the stage with The Wildwoods, Alex switched from artist to fan seamlessly. “They simply do not miss,” he said. “Their harmonies, their lyrics, and their melodies are always so gripping.”

The more I thought about both interviews, the more this pairing made sense. One act is showing what songs become after a year of living with audiences. The other is inviting the audience into the earliest stage of those songs. They’re approaching songwriting from different places, but neither treats music like something frozen in time.

That’s why The Press Room feels like the perfect setting. It’s intimate enough that you notice the little things, whether it’s a harmony settling over the room or a songwriter trying out something new. For The Wildwoods, it’s another stop where familiar songs continue evolving. For Old Tom, it’s one of the first chances to discover what new songs sound like in front of an audience.

If their conversations are any indication, both artists will leave Portsmouth with music that sounds just a little different than it did when they arrived. That’s part of the appeal. Songs are meant to grow, and rooms like The Press Room give them the space to do exactly that. If you’ve been looking for a summer show worth the drive, this one feels like an easy recommendation.

What stayed with me after both interviews wasn’t a single quote but the shared belief that good songs are never finished. They keep changing because the people making them keep changing, and audiences become part of that process every time the lights go down.

Show Details

Who: The Wildwoods with Old Tom
When: July 14
Where: The Press Room, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Doors: 6pm Show: 7pm

About Show Spotlight

Show Spotlight is Ink on the Merrimack’s recurring series highlighting upcoming concerts, the artists behind them, and the stories that make each show worth seeing.