The Lumineers' Wesley Schultz On Touring Australia, Grief, And Setting A Folk Rock Trend

Claire Dunton

Ahead of The Lumineers' first Aussie shows since 2022, co-founder Wesley Schultz reflects on the band's history of local tours, the power of music in the face of grief, and the younger artists following in their footsteps.

The Lumineers(Credit: Noah Griffel)

The Lumineers

Alternative folk and Americana legends, The Lumineers, are headed back to Australia in January with their Automatic World Tour.

Automatic was released in January of this year and serves as the duo’s fifth record, and like the four before it, has cemented their place on the pedestal as the industry's most heartfelt storytellers.

Ahead of the The Music spoke to founding vocalist and guitarist Wesley Schultz about the tour and returning to Australia, where he fondly remembers playing at Big Day Out, Splendour In The Grass and their own national tours in 2022 and 2017.

“I don't even know if it's still going [Big Day Out], but that was amazing because you got all this time to explore Australia,” Schultz recalls. “And Pearl Jam and Arcade Fire were headlining in and we hung out with Mac Miller a bunch, and got to meet all these artists.

“It was like camp, summer camp for bands.”

The 2x Grammy nominees will be touring with The Head And The Heart, long-time friends and co-performers since as early as 2011, and a group that Schultz feels is perfect to undertake an Australian tour.

“It was like kind of a reunion of sorts, and we were thrilled that they were down with the idea of doing this tour, because it's a really big deal to go to Australia,” he explains. “There's a lot more [to it] compared to any other country out there.

“We really want to give them a great show. And I think The Head And The Heart are just… they're so good in their own right. They could be doing their own tour, and the fact that we're teaming up is going to be great.”

Since forming in 2005, Schultz reflects that the alternative folk rock genre has expanded and shifted, and welcomed new groups and sounds to a genre that has always been hungry for the stirring performances that The Lumineers have become synonymous with.

Schultz admits that a younger self surveyed the landscape with a scarcity mindset, fearing there was not enough to go around, but is happy to be humbled by younger newcomers who continue to prove that a rising tide lifts all boats.

“I love that there's a crop of younger artists sort of doing their own thing with it,” he explains. “I feel like the younger generation is much more generous and benevolent than my… I was born in ‘82, like we were all just elbowing each other out of the way and not being too kind and friendly.

“And I feel like this younger generation works together and appreciates it, gives each other the flowers. And I think that that's something as an older one we learn from, which is like, not everybody's in your way, you know, you can celebrate each other.”

Schultz and bandmate Jeremiah Fraites have certainly got their flowers over the two decades they have been making music, with Automatic debuting #16 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on Top Rock Albums, Americana/Folk Albums, and Independent Albums.

Lead single, Same Old Song, was an instant hit, landing #1 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart. But perhaps it's the shows themselves that have the biggest impact, with the raw lyrics and unique, rich instrumentation that make The Lumineers such an emotive group to so many of its fans.

The weight of being a group that many turn to in times of joy, hardship and uncertainty is a burden that Wesley does not take lightly, and reflects that music has the same effect for him in these times.

The conversation takes an emotional turn as Schultz reveals that his younger brother had passed away six months ago from an unexpected heart attack – something he does not talk about often.

Since the tragedy, he has taken to honouring his brother and working through his grief through his music.

“At the end of a show, I would play a song for him, with the help of the band, and kind of grieve him,” Schultz reveals. “It was weird because, in a way, you think that must be the most exhausting thing ever.

“But when you have all of this emotion around something, and there's nowhere to put it – that's way more exhausting. Putting it somewhere and giving it something to say and do with that, all that energy and emotion and grief and everything, it was counterproductive, but it helped me to process some of it.

“I always just think about the stuff I listen to and how it was interwoven into those moments,” he adds. “And the joy of like, showing someone a song I loved and had never heard. So to imagine anyone doing that [with our music] on a small or large level is like, very moving.”

When asked about the toll of touring and travelling to the other side of the world, Schultz says there is a phrase that has resonated with him over the years – they don’t pay me to play shows, they pay me to stay in hotels and walk through airports.

It’s this passion for his craft that makes The Lumineers almost feel like a vocation rather than a career.

The Automatic World Tour kicks off in New Zealand, before heading to Australia on January 9th with six shows across Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, and Newcastle. Tickets to the tour are on sale now.