Wild Rivers at Mercury Lounge

Khalid Yassein started writing songs on an acoustic guitar at age 11, but this private hobby was for his own enjoyment, not for the public. While studying biology at college in Kingston, Canada, Yassein worked briefly as an ophthalmic technician, a student researcher, a camp counsellor, and a Special Olympics swimming coach. From 2012 to 2015, he also performed with fellow student Devan Glover as an acoustic duo called Devan & Khalid. A debut EP garnered national radio airplay and the duo was named Toronto's Best New Artist in the 2015 CBC Searchlight contest. Further recording led to an expansion of ranks in 2015, adding drummer Ben Labenski and bassist/guitarist Andrew Oliver, both from Oakville, Canada, as the ensemble became the indie-folk quartet Wild Rivers. Wild Rivers followed a 2016 debut album with an EP, Eighty-Eight, released on June 22, 2018.

Wild Rivers has been categorized as folk music, but at Mercury Lounge tonight the band's music was probably closer to the contemporary singer/songwriter or Americana genres than the Woody Guthrie folk era. The songs featured strong pop melodies, soft acoustic arrangements and warm vibes, but the killer touch was the vocal braiding by Yassein and Glover. Their crisscrossing harmonies shimmered vibrantly, such that even the downer lyrics of "Call It a Night," which described an unraveling relationship, sounded joyous. For the encore, the band unplugged and sang the dream-chasing lyrics to "Howlin'" from the center of the room. Wild Rivers has described its music as "folk 'n' roll 'n' country soul" and tonight this seemed to be a valid-enough description.

Visit Wild Rivers at www.wildriversmusic.com.

Setlist:

1. Do Right
2. A Week Ago
3. Call It a Night
4. Already Gone
5. Mayday
6. Paul Simon
7. You Can Side
8. Moving Target
9. Speak Too Soon
10. Wandering Child
11. I Won't Be Back
12. Heart Attack

Encore:

1. Howling