Wild Choir was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

band. It consisted of Gail Davies (lead vocals), Larry Chaney (guitar), Pete Pendras (guitar), Denny Dadmun-Bixby (bass guitar), and Bob Mummert (drums). Davies thought of the idea upon returning from a trip to

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

in 1985. Upon speaking with RCA executive

Joe Galante Joe Galante (born December 18, 1949, New York City, NY) is an American music industry executive. He is noted for his role in developing the careers of Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, Alabama, Kenny Chesney, Sara Evans, Brad Paisley, Martina McBride ...

, the band signed a recording contract with

RCA Nashville RCA Nashville is an American country music record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is distributed by Sony Music Nashville which is part of Sony Music. Current artists *Kane Brown *Andrew Jannakos *Miranda Lambert * Niko Moon (RCA/River Ho ...

. Along with a self-titled studio album, the band released three singles in 1986. Although the last single, "

Safe in the Arms of Love "Safe in the Arms of Love" is a country music song written by Mary Ann Kennedy, Pam Rose and Pat Bunch in 1986. The song was originally recorded by the American country music band Wild Choir. It was issued on their self-titled debut album in 198 ...

", did not chart, it would later become a major hit for both

Michelle Wright Michelle Wright (born July 1, 1961) is a Canadian country music artist. She is one of the country's most widely recognized and awarded female country singers of the 1990s, winning the Canadian Country Music Association's Fans' Choice Award twice ...

and

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, born July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record producer. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and reloc ...

in 1995 respectively. Two singles from the album followed, the highest-charting being "Heart to Heart", which reached number forty on the '' Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sa ...

chart. Wild Choir's singles received major criticism from country music radio. Many stations found the recordings to be too closely associated with

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

, believing it would not respond well with listeners. Although they did not achieve major chart success, Wild Choir has been cited as the forerunner of today's Americana movement and has influenced other country bands, including Highway 101 and

Foster & Lloyd Foster & Lloyd is an American country music duo consisting of singer-songwriters Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd. After pairing up in 1986, the duo recorded three albums for RCA Nashville, charting nine singles on the '' Billboard'' country charts. ...

. A second album was recorded by the band but was never released. After Wild Choir disbanded, Gail Davies signed with MCA Records and produced an album with label president, Jimmy Bowen. She then proceeded to form her own record label - Little Chickadee Productions. Guitarist Larry Chaney went on to work with Edwin McCain. Pete Pendras teamed up with Neil Andersson from the Northwest band The Wailers to record several albums. Drummer Bob Mummert became a session musician. Denny Dadmun-Bixby joined a country group Great Plains and appeared as a background vocalist on Suzy Bogguss' 1998 album '' Nobody Love, Nobody Gets Hurt''.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

References

{{Gail Davies American country music groups Musical groups established in 1985 Musical groups disestablished in 1987 RCA Records Nashville artists 1985 establishments in the United States 1987 disestablishments in the United States