Lumineers and Zach Bryan both set to play Pilgrimage. Might there be an onstage collab?

Wesley Schultz has just disembarked from his tour bus after a 14-hour trek from a show in Bend, Oregon, to the next one in Santa Barbara, California. The Lumineers co-founder, lead vocalist, and guitarist is wrapping up the last leg of the band's tour before heading to Franklin, Tenn., for a headlining gig at this year's Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival.

After he graciously apologized for being a bit road weary, Schultz and The Tennessean launched into a 30-minute conversation about everything from touring with his wife and two young children to playing festivals to the surprise duet with country superstar Zach Bryan that came together via tweets, texts, and a FaceTime call or two.

"He had tweeted a few years ago that said I was one of his favorite songwriters and that the song 'Long Way From Home' was one of his favorite songs," Schultz said. "I reached out to him to just say 'congrats' and that he was doing it on his own terms and I admired that."

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Months went by with no response from Bryan.

But he finally did respond with an ask that ultimately resulted with the song, "Spotless," co-written by the new friends and Schultz's bandmate Jeremy Fraites.

"Randomly he hit me back and said 'Thank you so much, you wanna do a song?'" Schultz said. "I was like 'sure man. Text me some ideas.' He had a song flushed out a bit that he texted me a couple hours later. We worked on it together over the next few days and in a buzzer-beater, it made his new record."

Schultz said while the three wanted to get in a room together to write the song in a more traditional method, they were on different tour schedules that made connecting in person difficult. So Schultz recorded his vocals in his basement, while Bryan worked on the song during off days from his tour.

"He made it work. I don't know if he always works this way, but on this song we did he worked really fast. He seems to go off his instincts so easily."

Touring an album vs. playing a festival

The two-time Grammy nominated Lumineers have been touring in support of their fourth album, 2022’s "Brightside." The album was top ten in both the U.S. and Canada and the title track reached No.1 on Billboard’s Alternative National Airplay and Adult Alternative Airplay charts, which marks the sixth time the band has topped the latter chart in less than 10 years. The 2022 leg of the tour sold more than 750,000 tickets across five continents, including two sold-out stadium shows at Coors Field in Denver and Wrigley Field in Chicago.

While impressive stats, Schultz said he always looks forward to amphitheater shows and festivals because as a band, they have a much bigger opportunity to engage with and create new fans.

"I view it like a portion of the audience at a festival doesn't know anything about us," he said. "That way you are trying to speak in a different way metaphorically. I like to make it a little less nuanced because someone at a festival who maybe hasn't seen us before isn't going to pick up on those little nuances. You can roll out a great song and sorta break down some walls."

Schultz tours on the road with his wife Brandy and their 2-year-old and 5-year-old children, which can also make playing a festival a fun stop for the family.

"Our kids love being around their parents at this age, so it makes the days off really fun," he said. "Their biggest highlight is stopping at a rest stop to get a little souvenir or something."

Will the Schultz fan take time to explore the grounds while at Pilgrimage? Probably. Will he be recognized? Probably not.

"We aren’t a cult-of-personality band," he said. "We are anonymous. Nobody knows what we look like. When people get tattoos of us, it's song lyrics, not our faces. I can walk around and take stuff in and nobody recognizes us which I prefer. It's a nice thing to take in music with the people and not feel like you are in some prison backstage. Having the kids with us will be fun."

You know what else would be fun? A little surprise guest appearance by Bryan, who is headlining the Saturday night of the festival.

When asked if they might join Bryan for a song or vice-versa, he said. "We were just texting about that today. That's the hope. I don't want to give anything away, but we are hoping something like that can happen."

Melonee Hurt covers music and music business at The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee. Reach Melonee at mhurt@tennessean.com or on X @HurtMelonee.

If you go

What: Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival 2023

When: Saturday, Sept. 23, and Sunday, Sept. 24

Where: The Park at Harlinsdale, Franklin, Tenn.

Tickets: www.pilgrimagefestival.com

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Zach Bryan and Lumineers both set to play Pilgrimage Fest