Everett Wren does not make small music. His songs have a sweeping grandness, like a big sky, even when they’re about or inspired by small moments. On Cascades, released Jan. 2025, the Austin-based songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist taps a deep well of American musical idioms and influences, from Western music and bluegrass to Broadway and traditional folk balladry – to craft songs of startling complexity and precision. Accompanying his tenor vocals on fiddle, mandolin, percussion, and acoustic, electric, resophonic slide and lap steel guitars, Wren also clogs on the self-produced album, recorded at his home studio.

Performing since age four in his family’s band, Everett won an Arkansas state fiddling championship as a teen and played first violin in the Arkansas Symphony Youth Orchestra before touring the country with Missouri-based Americana band Wagon, which recorded albums for the Hightone and Glitterhouse labels. He busked in Europe, earned a master’s of engineering degree in acoustics from the University of Texas at Austin, and co-founded Austin bands Chalkboard Poets and Lost & Nameless before releasing his self-produced solo debut, Porchlight, in 2022.

Some of the topics we cover during our conversation today are: - Implementing fun and play into performance

- The importance of technique in finding overall ease in playing the violin

- The essential role of acoustics in both live and recorded music

Songs featured in this episode:

Starlight

Tug At Stars

Find A Way Home

https://www.everettwren.com/

https://www.instagram.com/EverettWrenMusic