Wild Ponies' Doug and Telisha Williams (photo by Laura Schneider)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Wild Ponies are No Depression’s Spotlight band for August 2024. Learn more about them and their new album, Dreamers (out Aug. 23 on No Evil Records), in this interview, and look for more all month long.
As busy as Wild Ponies have been the past few years, they’ve also taken time to pause every now and then, to look around at their lives, to simply breathe.
That simple act of taking stock and finding calm is at the heart of “Breathe,” a song from their new album, Dreamers, coming Aug. 23. And it’s an especially important act amid the whirlwind of releasing their first album in seven years.
It’s been a whirlwind lately in their personal lives as well. Since that previous album, Galax, Doug and Telisha Williams have expanded their family and profoundly changed their lives in many ways.
“We went from a family of two to a family of five, and we went through a pandemic — it’s been wild,” Telisha explains in the video below for No Depression readers. “It’s been a wild time. And parts of it really beautiful, and we have realized the importance of connecting with our audience. That’s really the center of why we do what we do. And that became super real and clear over the last few years.”
From a brief getaway from their Nashville home to Petaluma, California, Wild Ponies filmed an exclusive performance of “Breathe,” co-written with Ben Glover. While the album version is backed by some lovely pedal steel and a steady drumbeat, here it’s just Doug on a borrowed guitar and harmonies, Telisha’s voice carrying the message, and the California evening breeze gently weaving through it all.
