Family flows through the music of Goshen, IN’s, Wilson’s Reservoir. From the songs on their new record to the name of the band itself, kin and home resonate through their world. Named both after an actual reservoir in Georgia – primary songwriter Ben Wilson and his father cleared the land on which it is dug, and thereafter the family has always referred to it as “theirs” – and the family’s personal emotional reservoirs, the band’s expansive, indie-tinged rock music speaks to the heart while undeniably engaging the body.
After touring extensively behind their eponymous 2010 debut, the band decided to leave the hectic pace of gig life behind for a bit and bask in the easy rhythm of home. In the fall of 2012 the fellows decided to at least just get together and play a little, maybe just some jam sessions and a local show here and there. “After spending a few years thinking we had to make something of it, it was nice to simply play because we loved it and loved hanging out” explains Wilson.
It wasn’t much of a surprise to anyone when some new songs began to take shape. After a few demo sessions Wilson sent the songs over to longtime friend and producer Josh Antonuccio and started a conversation about recording.
The Last Will and Testament of Buck Baker (out 10/21) is a concept record rooted in the echoes of that rhythm of home. “Mom told me of Great Grampa Buck Baker” says Wilson, “a vaudevillian known to entertain John Dillinger in the Kokomo, IN, area. Writing these songs, I imagined Buck singing them. He gave up my Grampa (Monte) after his wife passed away, when he was 3 months old. The record explores heartbreak, commitment or lack thereof, and warning future generations to not follow in one’s footprints. The final section of the record is Buck fighting with himself to find redemption. Yet he can’t escape his own nature, and by the end he’s back at his old ways. We all have a story. I met Buck once; yet his life has a lasting impact. Being a father I ask myself, what kind of legacy am I leaving behind?”
Glide Magazine is premiering “Not Yet” a howling composition filled with fantastical imagery and garage psych, taking the listener on a six minute buildup ride of squalling guitars. Wilson sings with a unique vigor and poignancy, and there is no denying that his penetrating songs deserve deference.
“‘Not Yet” is a song about my Great Gramps Buck Baker struggling to give into the expected way of life,” says Wilson. “He sometimes was a good man. After his wife died He was trying to make a decision to lay down his traveling musician lifestyle for his son Monte who he later gave up for adoption. He has a longing that won’t go away and he wrestles with God on wanting to live upright. As the lyrics go ” I would lay myself down, not yet, not yet“, Buck just cannot give up the way of life that he is used to. It was back to his banjo, ukulele and the road, leaving behind Monte. It was a the fork in the road for Buck where he chooses himself over his son and any responsibility of fatherhood.”
