Artist Glimpse: Wild Bloom
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There is a distinct magic that occurs when separate creative journeys collide to form a single, unified voice. For Toronto-based "fem-folk" trio Wild Bloom—comprising Becky Leigh, Brittany Iwanciwski, and Alyssa Tess—that collision happened while navigating music degrees at Humber College. Hailing from different corners of Canada, the multi-instrumentalists quickly parlayed a deep mutual friendship into a captivating roots act known for its rich three-part harmonies and intricate fiddle work. Fresh off regional tours, the 2024 releases of their single “Travel Song” and cover of Gregory Alan Isakov’s “San Luis,” a busy summer schedule, and with their new single “Rising Ground” dropping this September, the trio sat down with us to discuss the vulnerability, geography, and future aspirations behind their shared storytelling.
Rob Aguiar: When you first transitioned from being individual classmates and friends to official collaborators in late 2022, what was the most surprising thing you discovered about how your individual creative habits mesh together?
Wild Bloom: The most surprising thing we found was how easily all our past musical experiences and interests could mesh together to create our new sound as a band. We all went to music school for jazz, but Becky’s solo music leans more R&B-Singer/Songwriter, Brittany comes from a Canadian old time and alternative fiddle background and Alyssa’s solo music is Pop-Singer/Songwriter. All similar, but different enough. When we came together the first time to arrange songs and when we started to write original music, it was clear our different music backgrounds were allowing us to create something unique to Wild Bloom. It’s helped us pick cover songs from a variety of genres to arrange and make our own (Alyssa likes to say we “folk-ify” our cover songs). And anyone who’s been to one of our live shows knows that we love throwing some fiddle tunes into our set, which is inspired by Brittany’s background!
RA: Three-part vocal harmony requires an immense amount of trust and active listening. How do you approach the arrangement process to ensure your voices blend seamlessly without crowding the underlying story of a song?
WB: We always try to consider the song’s perspective and how we can use our vocal arrangements to deepen the meaning of the message. We enjoy playing with variety in our arrangements, such as giving Alyssa or Becky solos, singing in unison or three part harmony, depending on what the lyric or section calls for.
We could use our upcoming single, “Rising Ground” as an example! This song is about a toxic relationship and the struggle of getting out of it. Becky sings the lead part of this song, as the story is from one person’s perspective. Each chorus we stack harmonies to represent the situation rising around you, falling deeper into the struggle. Having multiple voices in the chorus also symbolizes not being alone in experiencing a toxic relationship (all three of us have been there, but thankfully we’ve learned from these past relationships now!)
RA: Between your roots spanning from British Columbia to Quebec and Ontario, you carry very different regional perspectives. How do those distinct landscapes and hometown cultural flavors show up subtly in your collective lyricism?
WB: Well not so subtly, we all are quite inspired by nature imagery in our lyrics. In our song, “Travel Song”, we used our different cross Canada experiences to pull together the lyrics which do lean heavily on natural references. We also try to showcase Becky’s French roots by incorporating that into our songs, whether it be covers or originals (such as her line ‘ je me retrouve dans ce nouveau monde’ in ‘Travel Song)’.
RA: Your debut original track, "Travel Song," captures the essence of movement and memory. Having spent the last two years taking your music on the road, how has live touring transformed the way you perform or perceive that track today?
WB: The original prompt of this song was “leaving a piece of your heart everywhere you’ve travelled to”, which couldn’t be a more true sentiment when we play this song at our live shows. We’ve gotten to share this song with so many audiences now, it could almost be a theme song for our band and following. “Travel Song” is a great segway to share our story of coming together from across Canada but also serves as a reminder of how fleeting each moment and experience is. We try our best to be in the present moment during our live shows, so we can fully embrace every opportunity we get to share our music with a listening audience.
RA: As a final point of reflection, when you look ahead to the next chapter of your journey, what are three personal and creative goals you hope to achieve together as Wild Bloom?
WB: We’ve grown a lot as a band in the last 3 years and we only hope to keep growing and “blooming” from here (if you will). We’ve got a single release coming this September, an album of original music in 2027 and a plan to continue with the releases in the following years! We have a goal of playing more festivals and tours as well. Playing Mariposa Folk Festival in Orillia and touring cross-country sounds like a dream to us! We also want to take more risks and explore how we can develop our sound instrumentally while staying authentic to who we are. Our most personal goal is just that we continue to get to play music together. Starting a band with friends has been one of the most fun and rewarding experiences and we always look forward to playing together more. We want to continue supporting each other in any way we can, through challenges and opportunities that come our way, and keep growing together as friends and musicians.
Wild Bloom stands as a beautiful testament to the power of shared vulnerability. By anchoring their roots arrangements in mutual support, Becky, Brittany, and Alyssa have built an entirely authentic sonic space. Coming off a packed summer of live dates—including a standout July performance at The Grange of Prince Edward Winery—the trio is gearing up for their next big show at The Five Points Theatre in Barrie on October 22. Keep up with all their upcoming shows and releases at wildbloomband.com
