Aila and Elisha Wildman hail from the tiny Blue Ridge town of Floyd, Va., a hotbed of old-time mountain music. Both have been performing since they were kids—Aila on fiddle, Elisha on guitar and mandolin. Now in their 20s, the recent Berklee College of Music grads were making the rounds at festivals and winning regional music competitions as teenagers. As such, they hardly feel like a work in progress on their debut Longtime Friend (New West)—and they definitely don’t sound like a nostalgia act.
Produced by Nicholas Falk (Hiss Golden Messenger) at Applehead Recording in Woodstock, N.Y., the album intermingles a robust full-band approach to blues rock, folk and Americana with the siblings’ authentic bluegrass and back-porch jams. Particularly effortless are their reworked treatments of Gram Parsons’ “Hot Burrito #2” and “Luxury Liner.”
The Wildmans walk us through this well-paced collection of originals and covers.
—Hobart Rowland
1) “Take Me”
Aila and Elisha: “The chorus of this song came out during the pandemic while we were at our childhood home in Virginia. It’s the feeling of wishing things were different. It was such an exciting time in our lives, and it felt like it had all vanished in an instant.”
2) “Sometimes”
Aila: “Elisha had the original idea for ‘Sometimes’ for a long time and always felt like it was unfinished. He played it for Nicholas Falk when searching for album material, and Nick said, ‘That’s gonna be a hit—don’t change a thing.’ It’s one of those songs that just came out and seemed to speak for itself.”
Elisha: “I always felt like the song needed another part—or to go somewhere new. Finally, we just decided to record it, and it became one of our favorites on the record.”
3) “Hot Burrito #2”
Aila and Elisha: “This song was a huge inspiration to us when imagining what our record would sound like. Once we learned it, we knew it had to be a featured cover on the record. We always felt it could be done in our own way while still pulling so much from the original version.”
4) “Before I Go”
Aila: “Eli wrote ‘Before I Go’ from the perspective of life on the road and being away from home—the challenges of making it as a musician and artist while looking for some normalcy day to day. The first verse includes the song title. It ends with ‘until I return’ in the last verse.”
5) “The Route”
Aila and Elisha: “We first learned this from mentor and friend Earl White, and it quickly became one of our favorite go-to tunes due to the deep groove and compelling modal sounds. We’ve never been able to identify the exact origin of this tune, but it bears many similarities to other A-modal old-time tunes like ‘Jenny On The Railroad’ and ‘Little Peg N’ Awl.’”
6) “Longtime Friend”
Aila and Elisha: “Another song we wrote during the pandemic, referencing a past relationship—whether with a person, place or thing—that comes back to you in a new light. Something or someone haunting from your past is now seen in the present. It could be an enemy or a friend.”
7) “Anyday Women”
Elisha: “Aila has been inspired by Bonnie Raitt’s singing and songwriting since she was young. When the time came to choose a cover for the record, this song seemed to naturally present itself.”
8) “Luxury Liner”
Aila and Elisha: “This song was recommended to us by Dori Freeman’s father, Scott—specifically the Emmylou Harris version. We’d been in search of an upbeat song to cover for the Rockygrass Band Competition in 2021, and this seemed to fit perfectly. It quickly became a favorite.”
9) “Hog Eyed Man”
Elisha: “Aila learned this tune from Bruce Molsky while studying at Berklee College of Music. This tune was originally written and recorded by Hiram Stamper, but it’s been changed and adapted over time.”
10) “Absolute Zero”
Aila and Elisha: “This song was recommended to us by Magnolia Ellenburg from a Spotify compilation of lost ’70s music. The only known recording of it almost sounds like a demo. Immediately, we could hear the possibility in it.”
11) “Autumn 1941”
Aila and Elisha: “Roger Brown and Mark Simos co-wrote this song and brought it to us in the summer of 2023. We instantly connected with the story and lyrics because of our own ties to the Appalachian region. We took what was originally a bluegrass demo and morphed it into a darker, stripped-down version.”
12) “Old Cumberland”
Aila and Elisha: This ‘new’ old-time tune was written by Pat Conte. We learned it from Earl White. It has some of our favorite aspects of old-time music: crooked timing, a compelling melody and a simple harmony.”
See the Wildmans live.
