Photo: Silvia Grav

For generations, folk music has captured people’s fascination with the art of lyrical storytelling. It’s a genre that inherently lends itself to grand forms of expression. This sentiment rings out through every one of Van William’s works. The California-based folk artist first became known for fronting the folk-rock outfit Port O’Brien before eventually relocating to Oslo, Norway to form the rock band WATERS. William’s most recent endeavor has seen him embark on his path as a solo artist. The release of his critically-acclaimed debut album, 2018’s Countries, cemented William as a lasting voice in the world of folk–full of depth, complex, and downright endearing.

William’s folk charm springs forth from his music to every aspect of his life, as we bore witness to in the following behind-the-scenes photos of William’s recent Spring tour with Lissie. We discovered a previously unseen side of William, one that existed beyond his enrapturing music. The following photos introduced us to an artist who is a devoted fan of The Office, a family man, and may just be addicted to Kombucha.    

Battle damage in Boise! The beautiful blue beast was backed up into a garage after our show there. I was in a bad mood about it the whole tour because I thought it was going to be like 2k to fix, but the estimate just came back below the deductible at $375 and I don’t know why I’m including this, but it’s the kind of thing I would ask a band if I saw this post.

Cheyenne, Wyoming. I love passing through this town. There’s a little cafe downtown that has a good amount of charm and the whole city feels stuck in time. 

Scranton, PA!!! As an obsessive fan of The Office, I always freak out when we go through Scranton. We actually had a night off there on this run and went bowling and arcade-ing with Lissie and her crew. 

Obligatory in-van band selfie.

Definitely the best rider we got on the tour. It met our specifications perfectly. One piece of citrus in room temperature water in a big cooler, preferably soaked for 6 days.

Our drummer Julian met his match in Omaha.

I spent a good amount of time reading through these setlists at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. One had “Even Flow” written THREE TIMES IN THE SAME SET and it wasn’t Pearl Jam.

I couldn’t find Kera at the 9:30 in DC. WHERE IS SHE?!?!?!

Post-show hanging vibes with Lissie and her crew in Philly. We bonded so hard, it was really tough to say goodbye to this posse.

On the epic drive home from DC to LA, somewhere in the middle of nowhere Arizona. 42 hours is too long inside a car.

The one saving grace of the long drive home was my parents! They flew out from Cambria, CA and drove the van home with me. It was really amazing to see the country through their eyes. 

My dad and I packing up the van one last time in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Fort Collins, Colorado. So many Julians in this photo.

Baker City, Oregon. The drive from Seattle to Boise was one of the most beautiful of the tour. It kept oscillating between gorgeous landscapes and borderline frightening gas stations with Trump signs all over the place.

The pack!

Backstage in Boise. Convenient Mouthpieces is not a terrible band name.

This is America.

Kera in Seattle.

One VERY IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT in gas station commerce is that once in a while you can find kombucha and Kevita in the middle of freaking nowhere. Even if I didn’t want one all the time, I would always buy one just to make sure they keep the trend going.

Mr. Small Theatre in Millvale, PA outside of Pittsburgh was one of the most beautiful venues we played on this run. Such a gorgeous little theatre in a historic town.

My favorite (and I’d venture to say MOST musicians’ favorite) venue in the United States, the 9:30 Club in Washington DC.

Bowling in Scranton with Lissie.

Thrift store hunting in Boise. Seriously considered getting this dude. Toy Story guilt is real.

The amazing Allie Buckley joined us onstage in LA to sing “Revolution.”

We were completely stopped in traffic for over 3 hours in PA because a truck erupted in flames. People started getting out of their cars and talking to each other and we all got our reps in.

A very confusing sign somewhere in Indiana.

Be sure to catch Van William on tour, both this summer with Guster and embarking on his own headlining tour this fall.