All this month we are talking to Americana and indie-folk band Wayward Vine. The band are from Boston and last month released their brand new album. I wanted to talk to the band to find out all about them and delve into their musical world. Today we talk about the prep that goes into preparing to perform live.

How do you warm up for a show?

Valerie Rachel: The honest answer is that I sing a lot in the car on the way to a gig! But I try to sing to songs that are not ours and are sometimes pretty silly. I’ve definitely blasted some Nirvana and even the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack recently in the car to hit those high notes.  Something tells me we may soon release an indie folk cover of one of those songs because boy is that movie popular…

Greg Lawrence: Val’s always on me to do more to warm up my voice before we play, so I guess that’s rubbed off on me as I try to do that too.Although screaming out “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is NOT the best warmup exercise for this voice. I also find that having beer before we play loosens me up a bit and removes a bit of tentativeness I might otherwise have as I go to sing certain notes or phrases. But no more than one, as I still need to be sharp. 

How do you wind down afterwards?

Rachel: I always have a little bit of a “performance buzz” after a show, so if it’s late I have a hard time going to bed. I usually will stay up for a bit and read a novel to wind down.

Lawrence. A second beer.

“I do feel a sense of anticipation and excitement when we’re up there and getting ready to launch into our set...”

Lawrence

Tell us about the day of a show — what is the process your band goes through to get ready?

Rachel: Even when we are performing a ton, I still feel better when I practice before a show because I want to give my best to every audience! So I’ll usually spend about an hour at my keyboard singing through everything before I pack up our gear and head out. We also aim to make a setlist that is just right for the particular show. If it’s a daytime farmers’ market for example, we try to keep it a bit lighter and livelier and family-friendly, whereas if it’s a Boston club show we break out some of the heavier, rockier and sometimes moodier tunes. 

Lawrence: I am the keeper of the set list and sometimes we don’t finalize it until the morning of the show. Val and I are often texting the final choices and order / flow in the morning while I’m having my coffee [laughs]. Once it’s settled, I hand-write one original with my very neat block letter printing and make a copy for each band member and bring them to the gig. Also, depending on the gig, we might do some degree of coordinating our wardrobes, but we’re generally pretty “come as you are.” Not coordinating can be risky — one time, Jim, our drummer, and I wore nearly identical polka-dotted shirts. And another time (and this was pure coincidence but kinda cool) we all managed to wear some kind of red plaid!

Val has an impressive variety of footwear options, particularly cowboy boots and lace-up Doc Martens, so we all look forward to what she’s going to come in on a given show day. The only other somewhat obvious pre-show routine is making sure I have everything I need for that show, and it’s not a static list — it will depend on whether (a) we’re bringing our own sound vs. using a built-in backline, (b) which other musicians are playing with us and (c) the general vibe of the gig. If we’re supplying our own sound, it could be the full rig of speakers / stands / monitors / board and all the cables or it could be a simpler, all-in-one unit. Sometimes I play both electric and acoustic if we don’t have a second guitar in the lineup.

I recently bought one of those travel gig bags (all my guitars have hardshell cases) and forgot to put some guitar picks in the side pocket and went to our next gig with no picks! So no detail is too small to give focus to and make sure you don’t overlook. 

How many times do you rehearse before a show?

Lawrence: When we first formed the full band a few years ago (Val and I played mostly as a duo before 2023), we needed to rehearse frequently, typically once every week or two, allowing for people’s lives outside of music and their respective schedules. This was necessary to both develop / arrange and learn the songs and also to gel as a unit. We have top notch musicians supporting us, and we have great musical chemistry, so we’re now at a point with the existing song catalogue that we can get away with limited rehearsal time before a show and still sound tight, but we still try to get together at least once a month to stay fresh.

We’ll get to a point soon after we release our debut album The Fall and all the things we’ll do to promote it, where we’ll start working on new material. We already have a lot of raw material that’s been worked on individually by each of us, and we’ll start to integrate that material into a collaborative work, bring the other band members on board, and start to play them live. To make that process as fast and seamless as possible, we’ll need to step up our rehearsal cadence again for a while. 

Rachel: Isn’t a performance just a really high stakes rehearsal? In all seriousness though, sometimes we are playing out a lot so rehearsal just becomes notes in between the shows.  When we want to debut a new song though we definitely agonize over that a lot to make sure it’s really ready for public consumption. 

“I feel better when I practice before a show because I want to give my best to every audience!“

Rachel

What are some of the most important lessons you have learnt about music in the last few years?

Lawrence: Band chemistry and commitment is really important to be successful. Our band is like a family — we all care about each other and support each other, and we love playing together. Val and I have both a songwriting and performing chemistry that developed naturally over time. We can read each other on stage now, which is kinda freaky. I also personally feel that songwriting is our secret sauce to making really good, authentic music that touches people. You can be a virtuoso on lead guitar or have a voice that has perfect pitch and range, but if the song you’re singing doesn’t have a soul that resonates with people, you’re missing something. 

Rachel: I definitely agree with Greg on this one. I’ve also had to “unteach” myself a few things musically as time has gone on. I grew up with classical training but some of our songs call for listening, feeling, and improvising, rather than for precise virtuosic parts. Learning to sing and play from the heart is harder than one might think, but I have grown so much as a musician since I started performing that way. The “soul” of our music is about connection.

How do you feel when you get up on stage?

Lawrence: I’ve always been comfortable with public speaking through other facets of my life, which has served me well in being able to perform in front of people. So the one thing I don’t feel is nerves (at least not in a paralyzing way). I do feel a sense of anticipation and excitement when we’re up there and getting ready to launch into our set. The feeling that’s more meaningful to me is after we’ve finished playing – a pure adrenaline high for me! I can feel almost a “humming” through my nerves and bloodstream. It’s an amazing feeling. 

Rachel: No matter how many times I do this, I still feel a bit of a butterfly flutter in the first few seconds of a performance!  But once the music starts pouring out and I connect with our audience, I immediately remember that this is where I am supposed to be and what I love doing the most. 

We are based in the UK; do you have any plans to tour over here?

Rachel: It’s definitely on our to-do list to come down for a UK tour. We’d love to target 2026-2027 for that. I spent some time in the UK during college and Oxford is one of my favorite places –  I’d love to return and play a show here sometime. 

Lawrence: Yes please!

Thank you again for all your support in reading and engaging with the website.

If you want to help support the website then you can! You can buy Holly a cup of tea (and a biscuit!)