NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Mitch Arnold, lead singer of the band WAYLAND, reminded us that “summer ain’t over yet” with the release of Lakehouse to digital service providers everywhere today, August 5. Mitch joined best friend and lead guitar player Phill Vilenski and friend and producer Steve Diamond (Reba McEntire, Faith Hill, Willie Nelson, Kelly Clarkson) to pen the feel good, summer track. Phill Vilenski shares, “We wrote this song after spending some awesome time at my friend Brad’s lake house near Wayland, MI. It’s our “ode to summer” in the midwest. I hope you like it. I’m really proud of the song.” Listen to the summer anthem here.
WAYLAND has quickly become the country band that no one saw coming, ten years later, after a Holy Shift, their debut country single and the sentiment behind the words. WAYLAND respected Nashville’s reputation as a ten year town, after touring and recording in and out of Music City since 2012. They toured the heartland over 300 days per year for seven years, building a fanbase, the self named Wayland Warriors, that no one could take away from them. After four top forties at rock radio, placement on national festivals and debuting in the top ten on the iTunes rock charts with the viral blue-collar anthem Get A Little, they made the shift into the community that is country music after years of invitations from friends, fans, and industry.
“We moved to Joshua Tree, CA during the pandemic and we finally had the opportunity to write and record music without an outside producer for the first time. I grew up with my dad playing bluegrass and the Chicago Blues have always been such a big influence being raised in West Michigan. We’ve been putting banjo, pedal-steel, acoustic guitar and mandolin in our music for years, and some might call that rock and roll, some might call that country, but we’ve just always called it WAYLAND. Relocating to Nashville, writing with our friends, and getting to play what we feel is the most expressive American Roots Music has been a dream and we’re thankful to Nashville and country music for welcoming us,” shares Vilenski.
WAYLAND welcomed Nashville to “WAYLAND COUNTRY” when they played The Basement to over a hundred Wayland Warriors that traveled over one thousand miles each to join them for a thirty minute set, proving the devotion and loyalty of their fanbase. That show and its rehearsals attracted the production crew for Food Network’s Diners, Drive In’s & Dive’s who invited the band to perform on a new episode, before inviting them back for a second surprise, to be announced feature with friend and new fan, Guy Fieri, who you can catch on social media whistling and cheering along to the lyrics of Lakehouse.
WAYLAND sings,
”I’ve been working non stop Feeling like I might drop Thinking about that sweet spot getaway My imagination’s already on vacation Don’t need no reservation to stay Loading up the truck put the town in the dust Gonna pick her up on the drive Soon we’ll be sipping the Pabst Blue Ribbon Skinny dippin’ on a Friday night What happens at the lake house Stays at the Lakehouse And ain’t nobody else has to know We can hide out Let your wild child hang out Turn it up throw it down another round Anything goes At the lake house The waters just fine Losing track of time Soaking up sunshine At the lake lake lake house”
This is just the first taste of WAYLAND COUNTRY. The next single from WAYLAND, “Looking For A Bar” will be released to country radio September 2. Stay tuned for details at www.waylandtheband.com and come along for the ride by following @waylandtheband on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Tik Tok.
Become a WAYLAND WARRIOR here.