Interview: Wild Horses on living in 'The In Between'
by Diane
November 10, 2026
From playing to thousands at Red Rocks to sleeping outside truck stops in makeshift housing, from driving along the Absaroka mountain range at sunrise to planning a music festival in their hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota – Wild Horses have developed an appreciation for the moments “in between” the grandeur and simplicity of their lives.
Led by husband-and-wife duo Jed (guitar, lead vocals) and Ariana LaPlant (violin, vocals) and backed by their longtime friend Landon Pahl (bass), the folk/bluegrass trio’s sophomore record, The In Between, honors their labors of love.
Wild Horses have paved their way from the ground up. Beginning at a local VFW in rural Minnesota, the artists are now signed to Atlantic Records and have been touring with the likes of Trampled by Turtles, Charley Crockett and Sam Barber. Now, The Local Show’s November Artist of the Month, they reflect on their journey thus far.
Transcript edited for clarity and length
Talk to me about this new record, The In Between, and the significance of that title as well.
Jed: Yeah, we played our first gig in September of 2021, and at that point, Ariana and I had made the decision that we were gonna step away from the house that we had and our normal jobs, that we were just gonna make music, whatever it was. And so we played that gig as Wild Horses, and that was what we decided we were going to put our energy towards.
A studio friend of ours, north of Grand Rapids, was sort of converting a taxidermy shop into a studio, and it was just the beginning. We went up there and did it and made this record, and then we just tried to get out and tour as much as we could and chase gigs. And we were writing new songs, but were mostly trying to get out with it. And at that time, we were living in the van. Then we built a little cabin off-grid that we lived in, and then this last year we ended up tearing that down — which is maybe a story we want to get to or not. But we sort of have just been living in between wanting to really get out and do this, working really hard to try and figure out how to make that happen. And the songs that were coming out of this time of trying to build this thing, just sort of reflected that.
There's got to be so much pride coming from Grand Rapids, Minnesota. It's hard to make a living [as a musician] coming from a small town because there's not a lot of places to play. If you want to be a full-time musician and live in a remote place, you need places to play. Well, of course, you guys have had tour slots, hence, living on the road. But I love that you had your start at a VFW in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. And you both were doing your own thing solo. Bring me back to that time.
Jed: At that time, when we first met, the VFW on Thursday nights was the one place in town that had a mic set up with speakers. That was the place you could go and play songs for people besides the theater. We have a beautiful theater up there as well. But that was it. It was a lot of the same people every Thursday. There weren't a lot of people, and there was a popcorn machine in between the bathroom doors, and it was super dark. And there was an upright piano against the wall, kind of facing the wrong direction, and that's where I had moved back home, and I was learning. I was leaning into writing songs and kind of cutting my teeth playing for people, and she walked in and was starting to do the same thing, and that was where it was at.
Thankfully, I will say this as shout-out to Minnesota radio for sure, but like, we have an incredible radio station up there that, I mean, they gave us our first gig and have really helped sort of create a scene, and I think open up doors for us to have a go at it, so to say.
Ariana: I think that I'm really grateful that there were limited options at that time, and that there were limited ears in that particular place that we were playing, too, because it really was, I think, helpful practice for us. And I wouldn't have wanted to be in front of more people at that point in my life, and I think he could say the same. And so I'm just grateful for that little window of time to, yeah, kind of lean into that and figure out how to do things.
I was thinking about how you really did it the right way right away when you started. You were teaming up with other fantastic folk musicians from Minnesota, including Charlie Parr and Erik Koskinen and Good Morning Bedlam. I'm seeing names that were on the Festival Rialto, which is also something you started. You really started from the ground up, teaming with your community, putting on big shows. What made you start Festival Rialto. And do you plan to keep that going?
Jed: We hope so. Yeah, I hope that can exist forever. We were just excited about that. People like Erik Koskinen and Charlie Parr — we looked up to for a long time. I remember the first time trying to introduce myself to Erik ... funny things happen when you've spent a lot of time with somebody's music and you look up to this person, and of course, they were all great. I think it started at the VFW. There's a little bit of that communal, collaborative sort of spirit that has driven a lot of our values as we've tried to go out and tour.
And I think what really excites us about making music, especially for us three together, is just the idea of sitting around and sharing songs. And I think, for me, Rialto was sort of born out of our respect for a lot of other great Minnesota musicians. But then also, we like our town. We think that there's something to be had there, again, that the radio station's been a part of starting forever, but it's been sort of a neat fusion to see some of our favorite bands get to come experience our town, maybe in a way where it would be challenging otherwise because it's a tough tour stop. But partnering with the local brewery — and really, we're just grateful bands have said yes to come up and do it. And we usually invite the high school jazz band every year. They usually play slots and tear the place down. And so it feels like both a celebration of some of our favorite bands that we've either been with or have wanted to meet, and this is our excuse to do that, and sort of a chance to show that to our town and share that together. But again, that comes down to a lot of other people in town. The ideas are great, but it takes a pretty good crew to pull something like that off.
It's also nice for Minneapolis musicians to get out of town sometimes. Oh my gosh, how good it feels to drive up north and play where I saw you — Lutsong Music Festival. It's really refreshing. So to have other musicians represented in different parts of Minnesota is really exciting.
I know you have a background in construction. You said you built your own van and you built your own tour bus that serves as a functional second home. That's amazing.
Jed: I don't know that any of us would really claim that we're builders by any means. All those sorts of things came from doing what we needed to make it work. In the beginning, when we were trying to make the first record, that meant figuring out how to harness energy from the sun to power a fridge so we can live in a van that we can tour out of. Then we need a spot to set the guitars up and play music, so we're going to build a cabin. And it had a lot of character. It was cute and beautiful. It was not incredibly square.
And then the bus, too … We had a friend of ours who is an incredible photographer that wanted to come on the road with us, and this was in the early days. But we were tight in that van, and we couldn't pay her to drive her own car or whatever else. And so we were like, man, if we had a bigger rig, we could do that. And meanwhile, my uncle had followed us on a couple tours in a separate van, and he was like, “If you ever want, you get a big rig.” He said, “I could help drive you.”
So we just started looking, and we found an old Greyhound bus, and went and looked at it. And I hope we didn't offend this guy, but we offered him very little money for it, and he took it. And we just thought that's what it's going to take to pull this off.
So we had a week-and-a-half before the first time we drove it was up to Lutsen. That was our test drive, and then we had a week before we left for Montana. So we ripped out the seats and built some bunks and some couches, and then put a couple more solar panels on. And somebody else could do a much better job. I think that's just the ticket to bringing our photographer. Up until a couple months ago, we finally laid the bus down, sort of for a partial retirement. Yeah, it's our house right now. Since we tore down the other one, we're bunking up in there till the new one's done.
Ariana: Yeah, I think that's a really good depiction as of what the in-between means to us right now, too. We realized that we had to tear down our house in October of last year, and then tore it down in the spring because there were some mold issues. And last year, it's been almost exactly a year since we found out we'd have to move out, we've just been trying to figure out how to make it work, whether that's couch-hopping or living in the bus in the summer or sleeping in a tent. Or we've had to get creative, and I think that the bus is a big part of that. But it's kind of become this metaphor for just living in the in-between and trying to make it work.
Jed: We play music in some of the most beautiful places in the world, I think. And then we drive to a truck stop in the sand. We sleep next to semis, and it's sort of like a between-worlds thing that happens when you're doing that night after night.
The contrast! It's pretty glamorous — the life to be able to be on tour with Sam Barber, Charley Crockett, Trampled by Turtles. Those names are huge right now. And that has got to feel incredible playing in front of their audience because I feel like your music fits in that realm so well. What have you learned from artists like Charley Crockett or Dave Simonett or Sam?
Jed: Little bits and pieces from each. I think there's a work ethic there that — being on tour with these people day after day, you get to see behind the curtain a little bit more. And I've really appreciated and respected getting to hear the stories of how they worked really hard to get to where they are — and not only worked hard, but they aren't so far removed from the early days that they forget what it's like.
And so, man, all those guys have just treated us really well, better than I think we deserve for the placement on the bill, so to speak. And so I think we've just learned that we're all out here working hard. I think people have moments in time where things connect and things go well. And to be able to pass along that value — I think that's my lesson going forward. Whatever sort of version of success we get to experience on this ride, I want to be able to remember where we're at right now. And for the next bands that come into our sphere to be able to treat them with the same level of respect and value that we've received. Yeah, it's fun getting to see somebody who's a true professional go out and do their thing every night. There's things we learn about connecting with the audience and writing good songs and all that. I mean, we could go on and on.
I’ve got to imagine live performance is one of the most enriching parts of what you get to do. Tell me about bringing that live performance and connecting with the audience.
Jed: Yeah, if that wasn't a big part of what we do, we would have a very miserable life right now. I always tell people that's what tour is for. Otherwise, there's a lot easier ways to go about your life. But it's such an intangible thing. The most rewarding moments I think for me are — there's an excitement, there's a thrill of the experience that's still not lost on me. Going to see people in front of me singing songs that I've connected with, and there's something about that exchange. But it's also equally rewarding for me talking to people at the end of the night.
We had a gal the other night at a Sam Barber show in Pittsburgh. [She] came up at the end of the night when we were hanging out by the merch table and had talked about how she lost her dad to cancer recently. Pretty fresh. And how playing "Man in the Mirror" with her dad, which is a song that I wrote after my dad passed away from cancer, was sort of a thing that helped them along in that time.
Playing live takes all sorts of those moments and feelings, and it puts it into a concentrated time where you get to do that thing with those people in the room. And maybe you never do it again with some of those people. I think we're more of a live band than we are recording artists, so to speak. I think because, at the VFW, that was what excited me, and I think still makes it very worthwhile.
Ariana: I think that we're just such relational creatures, human beings, and so I think that's kind of the height of the experience for me, too, is being able to connect with these people that wouldn't otherwise be able to. And as somebody who has appreciated music for a long time myself, and has been able to sit with artists' music for a long time and grown a great appreciation for that, and it's been with me throughout different phases or eras of my life, and so to be able to look out into the crowd and see that one girl that's just seeing every lyric, like, that's such a sweet moment for me.
Talk to me about some of the highlight tracks on The In Between. I know “Sunrise on the Absaroke” and “Sioux Falls” are two highlight tracks that we've been spinning here on The Current.
Jed: “Sunrise on the Absaroke” — I feel like that came from a journal entry from the road last fall. We were in California in the bus and just absolutely worn out. We were saying yes to almost every opportunity that came our way, which again we're so grateful for. But we were just touring nonstop, and it was hot and the bus was running, but that was an exchange as we went.
And I just remember one of the lyrics to the second verse. I had a similar journal entry from one of the mornings we left Montana, which is one of the first places we started touring, and we go out there every summer. And there was a morning when I was driving; I was the only one awake, and everybody was sleeping. And it was just about sunrise. We were driving through the Absaroka mountain range, and it was just one of those moments where, equally, you just wonder how you're gonna make it work. How are you gonna make it home? In my head, I'm sitting up there driving, starting to think through the tour. The expenses and the miles, and then the shows, which I think if a person thinks about that too long, you're never gonna get anywhere.
But then also, just as worn out as I was in that moment, it was just like, man, this is it. I'm really, really glad that I'm still doing this right now. When we play it live, I say it's a love song because it really is. I mean, mainly about her, but also the idea that we get to do this on the road together.
Ariana: Yeah, and I just remember, too, that on our first record, we didn't have a title track, and we don't have one on this record, either, technically. But I think that song is maybe the closest thing to a title track, because it actually has a line and a verse of it that says, "living in the in-between." And I think that song is just kind of an encapsulation of what The In Between is to us.
It kind of has that contrast throughout the song … It's kind of a juxtaposition. You're playing places like Red Rocks, and then you're going home and sleeping in a tent. It's like there's a little bit of whiplash there, and certainly some burnout to be protected against. But yet we get to do it together, us as a married couple, but us three as best friends. And we get to connect with people almost every night, and it's just our favorite juxtaposition to be in.
Landon: Yeah, we had a lot of fun making the record to begin with. We've done a little bit of recording demos back in the cabin when it was still up, and a little bit of recording down with Erik [Koskinen], but we never ventured into a big city at all. We tracked a little bit of The In Between down in Nashville, and it's been fun to kind of blend all of our musical backgrounds — just what everyone draws to and is drawn to.
A lot of what we do, we share, but it's been just a lot of fun to create music together, lean on each other in those areas, and help just kind of divvy up what the songs are, how we want them to be portrayed, what we want to highlight. You think of Ari with her beautiful fiddle playing, Jed's haunting voice — in the best way possible. I cover the low end side of things, but we're just having a lot of fun on the road. It's like a very grueling friends’ vacation. Yeah, it's been a real treat.
