Wild Iris is the culmination of efforts from Bryan Shelton and Kate Mullikin who formed the band in the fall of 2013 after meeting at a beachside convenience store. Bryan was playing a big, black guitar and Kate started improvising a melody to compliment it. They hadn’t shared more than a few words before they were writing their next song. Bryan already had the name ‘Wild Iris’ in mind and Kate dug the double meaning, evoking the image of a flower and an eyeball. They adopted the moniker, released their home recorded debut EP in 2014 and began gigging with a back-up band.
Onstage, the band exuded a kind of therapeutic honesty, which when mixed with their elegant musicality went a long way with the locals and they were encouraged to pursue a professionally recorded debut full length. The new, self-titled LP was produced by Andy Zenczak at Gadgetbox Recording Studio where Wild Iris’s rustic arrangements were imbued with the rich sound of analogue gear, often accompanied by upright bass, banjo, fiddle and percussion.
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