Many people want to be stars. Few are willing to admit it, and even fewer are willing to be vulnerable and forthcoming about it in song. Enter Montreal indie folk pop picker Aaron Wylder, who today released his buzzy new single, “Folk Star.”
The emerging songsmith takes on this challenge with a unique lens: growing up in the Caribbean for the first fourteen years of his life in a small town as beautiful as it was isolated. With this, he was naturally introduced to what might be considered conflicting ideals.
Wylder enjoyed the Caribbean lifestyle, absorbing the small pleasures and adventures possible within everyday life, whilst also worshiping the unstable, flashy lifestyle of folk, country, and rock stars like Johnny Cash and Tom Petty. How to be a folk star and write good folk music are the natural questions that arose, and years later, Wylder offers his take on the matter, guiding listeners in a song that pays homage to both the easy sway of the Cayman Islands, and the flashy essence and grind of rock and roll.
“Folk Star” doesn’t tell the listener to master an instrument, drum up business, or beg for gigs at the nearest bar in order to become its title. Instead, true to Wylder’s upbringing, it focuses on small details good and bad of the folk scene that paint an impactful image when put together.
“Bought myself some boots and an old suede jacket / A black denim shirt and a rusty little bow tie / Oh, I’m trying to be a folk star,” sings Wylder, focusing on the elements of folk stars he romanticized as a child. This romanticization, blended with the Montreal-based singer’s echoey vocals and upbeat electric guitar, makes for a track that is as dreamy as it is grounded in the everyday moments of life.
Wylder yearns and puts it all on the table with lyrics like, “I wanna be like Petty and Johnny Cash / Tour across the country only stop for gas / Play every night back in the bus in the morning / Oh yes I’m trying to be a folk star.” Though accompanied with the track’s dreamy and hopeful sound, even yearning seems to be a happy sensation worthy of stopping to enjoy in the present moment.
“Folk Star” follows Wylder’s June 2023 EP, The King of My Own Heart, an album which established how his unique perspective on life translates into sound. Wylder’s latest pop-rock track promises more of that sound to come in his upcoming EP of the same name, Folk Star, set to be released April 5th.
Besides some boots and an old suede jacket, Wylder’s answer to the implied question behind his new single can be found in his emphasis on everyday treasures and the final line of the chorus: in order to be a folk star, one must play the part, enjoy the moment, and put yourself out there.
