Improvement Movement w/ William Wild opening

Depending on the day of the week, Improvement Movement might be described as a loose amalgamation of Atlanta songsmiths, a hostile corporate takeover of your dad's favorite band, or a generous waste of time.

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William Wild:

Though Garrett Sale’s last release as William Wild arrived in 2022, the Knoxville songwriter’s short creative hiatus has felt like an eternity. 

Between his 2016 breakthrough, “Morning,” steady work as a producer, and syncs from shows like Yellowstone, the William Wild project was growing steadily and gaining momentum. Then came an avalanche of obstacles – personal and professional. 

Between a divorce, depression, and multiple relocations across the country, Sale was at his lowest. His music was ignored. Slowly, after reprioritizing his health, and his relationship with music itself, Sale began to piece together his newest William Wild project. 

The result is his forthcoming album, Touchy. Far and away the rawest recording in the Wild canon. It’s immediate, nearly tangible — his pain, grief, triumph, and joy, tactile against these gorgeous, homespun backdrops. To get to where he is now, though, Sale had to grow and shrink, to rise out of his own pain and focus on the delicate craft of capturing a perfect moment to tape.

“Touchy represents a strong shift in my music,” Sale explains, noting how the writing process came from experimenting for an hour a day, willing himself to write when he was at his lowest. “I was listening to some crazy records by Sun Ra and improvisational noise music. I was just telling myself, ‘go mess around.’ I would take these ideas and mold them into songs, but the breakthrough came when I was untethered from expectation; writing to keep myself sane.”

The irony of the newest William Wild album being something Sale originally thought was only half-done isn’t lost on him. Rather than it being a palate cleanser or a chance at starting over, it’s the defining statement of his career. “I was trying to focus less on music and ended up making something that I'm the most proud of,” he explains. “I thought it was halfway finished, but I eventually realized I couldn’t do anything else with it, and I had to share it. It’s who I am, it’s what I have to say.”

After a decade of touring, features in American Songwriter, No Depression, and Ones to Watch, and major syncs in Yellowstone and Wind River – William Wild returns with his third full length album Touchy on 6/6..