About Me
Well, some people may have written us off for dead, having released our CD "Poems from the Astral Plane" in 1998, but The Wyld Olde Souls have not entirely disappeared into the pink ether. There have been births and deaths and advanced degrees. Moves and stillness. Love and loss. But always the music pulsing underneath the daily and nightly. Much of the forthcoming CD "Ensoulment" has been recorded and mixed at the House of Rock Opera in NYC. Tracks soon available for download include "Give It to You," "Ferris Wheel Ride," "Anything," "The Dam," "Worn Out," "Undertow," "Take Me There," and more. 2008 will hopefully see a return to a few live gigs as well. The Wyld Olde Souls also welcome groovy new band member Dennis Ambrose (The George Usher Group, Crossfire Choir). Dennis is a multi-talented guy with virtuoso fingers, an accomplished bassist and guitarist. Two years ago, Dennis married songstress Marlene Reil from the Souls, further solidifying the band's reputation as a confusing Fleetwood Mac-like collection of two married couples, 3 sisters-in-law (Ivy, Marlene, and Grip Weed powerhouse Kristin Reil), 2 brothers-in-law (Rick and Dennis), and tabla player extraordinaire Naren Budhakar, not related to anyone in the band per se but a sort of Godfather to Ivy and Rick's cats.
Here are some of the things nice people have said about us:"One of the most outstanding releases coming out of the coffee house circuit is the debut EP "Poems from the Astral Plane" by the Wyld Olde Souls, a trio formed by Marlene Reil, Ivy Vale and Rick Reil, who combine Celtic fairytale atmospheres, '60's folk psychedelia and exotic instrumentation (sitar, tablas, balalaika, tamboura, etc.) into 6 fragile but delightful folk songs, right out of Lewis Carroll's fantasy world. If this is a forerunner of a full-length album release we're in for a real folk MONSTER!"
-Crohinga Well, Belgium
"If Contemporary Renaissance was a category, that is where you would find Wyld Olde Souls. The female harmonies and plucked string performances, along with some heavy, ancient war drum percussion, create a mystic and magical folk sound. The vocals reminded me a bit of the Murmurs, for those who are familiar with their music. True to their CD Title, it seems these Olde Souls are operating on an Astral Plane, and the results are a treat." - Just Plain Folks, USA
"New York's Wyld Olde Souls appear to have drifted in from a similar astral plane to our old friends Mary Jane: haunting ethereal mystical folk music led by female chant-song as atmospheric as a moth caught under a flickering gaslight on a stormy night and simply resonating with psychedelic Celtic harmony. 12-string guitars, flutes, bells, windchimes, mandolin, and tamboura accompany the medieval imagery: the strongest cut's a cover ('The Sun God'), but the band, who count three members of the Grip Weeds amongst their number, are more than capable of turning out some pretty fair melodies themselves as 'The Tower' and the opening 'Arrival', (very Steeleye Span, that one), amply demonstrate." - The Ptolemaic Terrascope, UK
"This record has strong images, some scary percussion, and sounds that range from whispers to windchimes. It's good to see that someone is still exploring folk and psychedelia and doing it so well." - Tom Rapp, Pearls Before Swine
"The two voices of Ivy and Marlene complement one another and increase the beauty of the songs. Their songs are some peaceful poems, a wind of feelings that give to the air the perfume of old centuries." - Zoopa Loop, France
"Delicious vocal harmonies assisting fresh folk melodies. Breezes of intense medieval spirituality and psychedelic threads woven with the exotic fibers of ancient popular instruments, a potion gently stirred by expert female hands and infused into the six songs of a very particular mini-album, which comes from New York but has a definite scent of England." - Rockarilla, Italy
"THE WYLD OLDE SOULS would come under the category of Celtic folk/psych, but then again, I try to shy away from categories, as they are so restrictive and rarely descriptive. This group is the kind who rule because they defy such pigeonholing by the mere depth of what they do. To me, one of the most striking things a band can do is to create an atmosphere and transport the willing listener to a place far from the physical space they're in. THE WYLD OLDE SOULS do this on this 6-song, nearly 25 min private release. Their use of folk and rock instruments can't be denied, but that's where the typical is left behind. It's left far in the background as you're lifted into a wonderful realm of the ethereal, the music and sincere Pagan lyrics opening up vistas of ancient sunlight, woodlands and calming nature. Most beautiful and powerful is the concluding trilogy of "The Tower," "The Oracle" and "The Sun God," bringing a heightening to not only one's senses of hearing, but all the others as well in a rich serenade of transcendence." - Chaos Realm, Germany
