Video Premiere: Sway Wild “Waves of the Wind”

Every element of ‘Waves of the Wind’, the new single from Sway Wild, is outstanding.  At the heart of Sway Wild is the duo Dave McGraw and Mandy Fer and they demonstrate excellent musicianship in their new single.  Fer, highly respected as GRAMMY-nominated Allison Russell’s guitarist, delivers an impassioned vocal, full of emotion and character, and their voices combine perfectly in powerful harmonies.  The choruses soar while the rolling, fluid percussion gives the song a great groove and Fer’s electric guitar pulses hypnotically throughout.  ‘Waves of the Wind’ is a stirring song and an example of fine songcraft.  Written in the summer of 2020 and influenced by racial issues, the song explicitly pushes us towards addressing equality and the injustices of the past.  Fer’s lines are a direct and powerful statement and we all should take note: “We’ve got a long ways to go // For every human to feel whole.”  In keeping was the song’s theme of racial equity, a portion of the proceeds from ‘Waves of the Wind’ will go towards Black Mamas Matter Alliance.

Mandy Fer says of the song: “‘Waves of the Wind’ emerged amidst the racial uprising of summer 2020 while doing a lot of reflection on my own white, cisgender, heterosexual privilege. It is vital for people like myself to do whatever it takes to fight for equity, justice, and inclusion…including slowing down and really recognising our roles in a system that was built specifically to lift up white people and oppress BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of colour). When playing this song at shows I often introduce it by saying, ‘White people, we have work to do. We have to do better.’… these words being the pillars of some of the teachings from the social justice community Holistic Resistance that I was involved with while penciling out this tune. In order to push for change we cannot remain idle or dormant…we intentionally wrote this chorus with a catchy, danceable lilt to it in hopes to inspire a melody that really sticks in one’s mind and creates waves of tangible movement and action.”  She adds about the video: “Returning to The Hallowed Halls for this session felt like a homecoming for Dave and I as we spent many hard-working/creative hours in that space a few years ago recording our debut Sway Wild release…we are elated to finally be able to translate the visuals AND the audio of this gorgeous recording studio with this video in support of the release of our newest single ‘Waves of the Wind’.”

Sway Wild have played alongside the likes of Iron & Wine, Gregory Alan Isakov and Mandolin Orange while Fer has also – alongside Allison Russell – supported Brandi Carlile, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson and Jason Isbell.  All this experience, and some great collaborations with Anna Tivel, JT Nero of Birds of Chicago and others, helped to ensure that their 2019 self-titled album was a critical success.  ‘Waves of the Wind’ can be streamed from various platforms here.  Check out the energy and groove of this memorable song.  Enjoy.