DownRiver Collective: From Cabin and Canoe to Collaborative EP

Watching DownRiver Collective perform is like watching a finely tuned machine. Audiences are treated to the silky-smooth vocals by Ali Vance accompanied by Bailey Warren (fiddle, background vocals), John Gray (banjo, guitar, background vocals), Rico Wallenda (mandolin) and Jonny Therrien (acoustic guitar and dobro). Their music is a melting pot of sorts – inspirations vary widely from band member to band member. Still, as a whole, they find themselves drawing on Chris Stapleton/SteelDrivers and Alison Krauss and Union Station the most. Other artists they are excited about are The Chicks, Madison Cunningham, East Nash Grass, Andrew Marlin, Shania Twain, Tyler Childers, and Sabrina Carpenter.

John Gray and Bailey Warren (with former member Danny Tucker) started the band in 2018 as a folk trio. After years in the bluegrass ensemble at Belmont University, where they honed their skills and met other like-minded players (i.e., the rest of the band), they naturally shifted gears and started to chase down a bluegrass sound. More than anything, they wanted to lift up Ali's powerhouse vocals and get to be her band. Adding Ali was a pivotal turning point in the band's sound and trajectory. The band, as it is now, has been recording and performing together for four years. 

DownRiver Collective came by their name via band member John Gray. His family has a cabin in the Shenandoah Valley, and he grew up frequenting the Shenandoah River, where there is a canoe and raft rental company called Downriver Canoe Company. In high school, he played a talent show with a friend, who, when asked what their "band" name was, quickly turned to Gray, saw his Downriver Canoe Company hat, and said, "We're Downriver Collective." The name stuck with Gray as he started pursuing music in college. 

The Nashville-based band describes their music as “modern bluegrass.” With elements of traditional bluegrass, old-time folk, and classic country along with flavors of Americana, rock, and modern pop, the band’s music reflects their musical passions. “As we've continued to write together, we've started to realize that we're a bluegrass band that doesn't write bluegrass music, and it kind of happened by accident,” says Bailey. “We play bluegrass instruments, and are all well-versed in the style of bluegrass, but it seems that we can't help but incorporate elements of other genres, usually whatever we've been listening to most recently, into our songwriting. Most importantly, Ali's intuition when it comes to vocal melodies is very natural and unique. There's nothing forced about it, and what she comes up with sometimes feels genre-less.”

DownRiver Collective’s first EP as a full band, Off the Shelf, was released in Fall 2023. The EP is comprised of all original tunes. “Most songs, like ‘Dead to Me,’ were 100% collaborative, written by the whole band, says Bailey. Others, like "Walls," were written by two or three of the members. “We had been writing for a year or so and were eager to get a physical CD out into the world. We pooled the best songs we had at the time and got in the studio with our producer Caleb Christopher Edwards, and engineer Dewey Boyd, at Forty-one Fifteen in Nashville to bring something to life.”

IBMA named the band the 2024 IBMA Momentum Band of the Year. “It was truly unbelievable and unexpected,” Bailey says. “We are admittedly embarrassed by our acceptance speech; not a single one of us actually anticipated winning or gave a single thought as to what we'd say if we got up to the podium. It seemed so unlikely at the time. On the flip side, I think our lack of preparedness showed just how genuinely humbled we were to win the award. We are so grateful to IBMA. They continue to show us so much support and lift us up any chance they get.”

"Come On Back" was released on April 4 as the lead single from their upcoming album, which arrives this fall. The song, initially written as an old-time instrumental fiddle tune, Ali and Gray later added lyrics to. “Gray was inspired to write from personal experiences of watching family members relentlessly chase down and fight for loved ones battling very serious mental illnesses,” explains Bailey. “He writes from the perspective of the one at home, who is holding on to hope and fighting to remain steadfast.”

The upcoming album was recorded with producer Caleb Christopher Edwards and engineer Dewey Boyd at Forty-one Fifteen. “We were so happy with the process and product of recording ‘Off the Shelf’ that we wanted to run it back.”

DownRiver Collective continues to gain recognition. The band was named the 2025 FreshGrass Bentonville Awards Band winner. “We so thoroughly enjoyed the performances from all the band competition finalists, we would've been happy to lose to any of them. I think the biggest win from that day is that Alison Brown caught the first four songs of our set. We could all feel the energy shift on stage as we noticed one of our heroes paying attention to us. We are so grateful to her and Compass Records for awarding us a studio day with them, as well as the prize money from the FreshGrass Foundation. We have been writing and dreaming up a deluxe version of our forthcoming record, and this win will make it possible to bring that to life.”