Thinker. Builder. Experimenter. Fairytale. Science.
Full Immersion. Full Isolation. It’s alright to be mad wild with your art. So be it.
Long Walker. Luthier. Author. Revealer.
WES URBANIAK and the MOUNTAIN FOLK
Bands can be as dynamic as the music they play. That’s part of our story.
Wes Urbaniak and the Mountain Folk is a genre bending band, but the roots always pull up like folk music. The live music world and the people in it have become as wild as the weather. WuMF has undergone significant changes while trying to embrace this new wild, but continues to progress through the simplicity of strings, harmonies, and foundational lyrics. In the world of plastic-look-at-me’s, a deeper connection to art persists here – it’s rare, but so good on the heart to witness and be a part of.
These days, it’s common to see the band flying with their more classic trio look. More and more the head count is shifting. Either Urbaniak rides the solo seat, or we plug into the duo scene, but something else is happening too. For some events, the band has expanded into a five piece that includes drums – if you didn’t know, this is both rare for Urbaniak and for the string band feel. The band can really drive some of the more alt-folk songs this way, and people have been digging it. Now, for the first time, the band is jumping up in size by one more head and will be rolling for a few special shows as a six piece. That’s a lot of people working on a Mountain Folk song at one time, but the harmonies, the movements, and the players give all the feels. Whoa.
Our iterations are many, but the music remains foundational and non-alienating. In one of our songs we sing, “There is a power in the people and in the ways that they connect…” We are witness to this sentiment over and over. We love connecting with you no matter the number of strings and voices on the stand.
Mountain Folk – the genre
Mountain Folk isn’t just mixed genres that are rooted in folk. Although that doesn’t seem so bad, it is so much more. It’s more than that because all the songs fit into the same genre paradigm. Mountain Folk is a genre. It’s a genre that is full of hard stops, flash flood dynamics, and mauling measures of lyrical flow. It is, at times, suffering from split-song personality, but so beautifully done that it articulates supernaturally as a sort of maddened and feverish poetry. It is fierce when it must be, and kind when it is needed.
Music to download and spin.
Videos.
Images.
Stage Plot.
PDF – WuMF.