River Whyless

Hailing from Asheville, North Carolina, River Whyless operates as a neo-traditional folk quartet that folds folk-rock textures into meticulously crafted songs and inventive arrangements. Ryan O'Keefe on vocals and guitar, Halli Anderson on vocals and violin, Daniel Shearin on bass, harmonium, and vocals, and Alex McWalter on drums formed the original roster, with O'Keefe and Anderson alternating lead vocal duties. The group came together in 2009, spent the next several years touring across the United States and Canada while developing songs, and issued its first recording, the home-studio effort A Stone, a Leaf, an Unfound Door, as a self-released album in 2012. An eponymous EP followed on the Backwoods Nation imprint in 2015. The band’s second album, We All the Light, appeared on Roll Call in 2016 with Justin Ringle of Horse Feathers handling production. In 2017 the group put out the charity single “Hold Me to Ya” to support the Wildlife Refuge Association and, later the same year, delivered a politically charged interpretation of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son.” Ahead of the 2018 full-length Kindness, a Rebel, River Whyless released the advance singles “Van Dyke Brown,” “Born in the Right Country,” and “Motel 6.”