Americana Highways presents this premiere of Vance Gilbert’s “Wildflower” from his forthcoming album Good Good Man, due to be released on January 24th. The album includes Chris Smither, Al Green’s organist Stacey Wade, Tommy Malone (the Subdudes) on guitars, Mike Posner on backing vocals, and Celtic harpist and vocalist Aine.
“Wildflower” is a stripped down version of his song from 1962. With a crooning, plaintive vocal, Vance Gilbert sings you a complicated love song over in classic folk style over gentle acoustic guitar: “she’s a free and gentle flower growing wild.”
Done solo here, with just the guitar and two mics. A song from my early teen years, 1972, like 9th grade, original done by the Canadian group Skylark. Some of the song’s history is amazing. I love this story… It was written by a friend of the band’s after a failed first date with a hospice nurse who had two of her favorite clients die in one day. He went to pick her up and she came to the door utterly broken. She promised to pull it together for dinner so she headed to her room while he waited in her living room. After 20 quiet minutes, he chanced a peek, finding her out cold across her bed in a dress, shoes in her hand. He gentlemanly folded the covers over her, let himself out, and went home and wrote the song. I love this story. — Vance Gilbert
Investigate more here: https://www.vancegilbert.com