Wren + Wilde

Wren + Wilde, a Minnesota folk-Americana band led by singer-songwriter Hilary Yoder calls its distinctive sound “smoke folk”. I know you’re asking…what is “smoke folk”? They tell me it is a blend of close harmonies, reflective songwriting, atmospheric folk, and a grittier strain of Americana.

The music can feel intimate and familiar while carrying touches of Southern gothic, vintage country, and early rock. The songs are all about life. They explore love, loss, parenthood, mental health, resilience, and the passage of time. They reflect the stubborn hope that keeps people building, loving, and dreaming despite life’s uncertainties.

Wren + Wilde grew out of the nearly twenty-year musical partnership between Hilary and her husband, drummer Corey Yoder.

Hilary was born in Minnesota and grew up listening to bluegrass and Americana, including the songs of John Prine and Emmylou Harris. She later moved to Tennessee to study songwriting, and it was there she met Corey.

The couple spent several years writing, performing, and releasing music together as The Passerine. Although they stepped away from the music business to raise their family, their creative partnership never disappeared. The hiatus was temporary.

In 2023, Hilary and Corey returned to music with renewed energy and expanded the project into a full band. Vocalist Bethany Olivares, guitarist André DeSautel, and bassist Mitch Jones joined them, bringing added depth and a broader musical range to Hilary’s songwriting.

Wren + Wilde draws inspiration from artists like Fleetwood Mac, Brandi Carlile, First Aid Kit, The Civil Wars, Emmylou Harris, and John Prine.

Rather than simply recreating traditional roots music, the band uses lush vocal harmonies and honest storytelling to combine those influences into something unique.

Produced by Christopher Furst, Serial Dreamers, Wren + Wilde’s debut album produced by Christopher Furst, is a 12-song collection written across years shaped by marriage, parenthood, loss, change, and renewal. Set to release on October 7th, the album features songs that explore love and grief, mental health, passing time, and the courage required to continue hoping when the future is uncertain.

At the center of the record is an idea that seems to define the band itself: some people continue to believe, create, love, and dream even when they understand how uncertain life can be. Wren + Wilde calls them the “chronic believers”.

Wren + Wilde has been gaining attention within the Midwest Americana community.

The band has performed at events and festivals including the Minnesota State Fair, Rivertown Days, and Thursdays Downtown. Its music has also been featured by Adventures in Americana through its North Country Sessions and by the podcast About That Song.

The band’s debut single, “Chasing Time”, has received regional radio support from Radio Heartland on The Current/Minnesota Public Radio, Womenfolk Radio on KFAI, BOB FM’s Homegrown Show, One More Song Radio on KDWA, and Minnesota HomeBrew on KSRQ.

Singer-songwriter Emmy Woods has praised the group’s “gorgeously delivered harmonies” and deeply felt artistic expression.

For Wren + Wilde, music is not just a form of artistic expression; it is a way to create connection, encourage empathy, and remind listeners that they are not alone.

The group has supported music education by headlining Hastings Hootenanny, an annual festival that raises money for public-school music programs.

Wren + Wilde has also performed at the Minnesota State Fair’s NAMI Mental Health Awareness Stage, helping support mental-health awareness and advocacy.

At its core, Wren + Wilde makes honest Americana for people who continue to search for beauty and hope within the uncertainty of being human.

Hilary wrote “Chasing Time” after a decade-long hiatus from writing music, wishing she had kept at it and wondering where she would have been if she had.

The song is ultimately about coming home to yourself after believing you were too late. It wrestles with the ache of looking back on lost years and wondering what might have been, while slowly arriving at the realization that every detour, even the painful ones, helped shape the person who finally found the courage to begin again.

At its heart, the song explores several intertwined themes:

• The passage of time — the feeling that life is moving faster than you are, and the fear that you’ve missed your chance.

• Returning to your calling — for Hilary, that meant finding her way back to songwriting after setting it aside for nearly a decade.

• Making peace with regret — acknowledging the years that feel lost without letting them define the future.

The imagery in the song—the crooked line, the long black ribbon of road, the penny in your pocket, and facing the dying light—all points to someone taking stock of their life while continuing the journey rather than turning around. It’s a road song in the truest sense: not about arriving, but about learning that the miles behind you were never wasted.

It’s a bittersweet song. There’s grief for what was lost, but even more gratitude for what remains possible. The song ultimately says: it’s never too late to come home to the dreams that have been waiting for you.

Sound familiar? In case you hadn’t already noticed, “It’s never too late” is my mantra.

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🎶 Spotlight No. 69
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About the author: Vicki Morrison Goble is a Minnesota singer-songwriter who created Songwriter Safari to introduce readers to gifted songwriters they might otherwise never discover. She believes good songs deserve an audience and that creativity has no expiration date.

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All biographical details and quotes, thoughts and opinions in this post come directly from the artist and/or the artist’s public online presence. I use AI tools to help organize information and smooth out the writing, but every spotlight is personally curated, shaped, and approved by me. Songwriter Safari isn’t responsible for the accuracy of submitted details or the availability of external links.