Independent Arts News Reporting 
Pictured Above: Jake Riley with Winyah bandmates @winyahband on instagram. Photo by @noah.hammett.
Emerging Artist to Watch: Drummer Jake Riley
By: Devon Beacham & Edited by Nick Oz
Arts News Now contributor Devon Beacham—New Hope native, recent Emerson College film graduate, and former WECB FM arts & culture host—brings a fresh perspective to ANN’s coverage. In her latest “Emerging Artist to Watch” feature, Devon connects with South Carolina drummer Jake Riley of the rising band Winyah (members include Thomas Rowland (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Stephen Russell (bass), Luke Gordon (lead guitar), Robert Buffington Jr. (keyboards) and Jacob Riley (drums)) to unpack Riley’s roots from church drumming to finding his groove with the band that would soon sell out shows across the country.
There’s a rhythm to the moments that shape you, a blur between who you were and who you’re becoming. For Jake Riley, drummer of South Carolina’s rising band Winyah, that rhythm has become something tangible – a pulsing throughline in their music that echoes in the background of growing pains.
Already reaching 134K followers on Instagram and currently over 600,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, Winyah has quickly become one of the most exciting bands to break out of the South. The five-piece group blends genres into a dynamic sound that’s been filling rooms and selling out shows across the country.
Jake Riley, the rhythmic core keeping the machine in motion, describes Winyah’s sound as a mix that’s hard to pin down – “a good hodgepodge of things,” he laughs. Their songs balance reflection and release… wide open and full of feeling.
With southern rock roots, indie textures, and a touch of alternative edge, the band sonically shifts from song to song but always stays distinctly their own. One performance at a time, they’re starting to make a name for themselves.
I had the chance to catch up with Jake to talk about his roots, joining WINYAH, and what it feels like to play behind the drums in a band that’s capturing the essence of youth while living it in real time.
Pictured Above: Jake Riley energized by the crowd while playing for @winyahband. Photo Credit: Instagram
Finding Rhythm
Long before the various venues and festival crowds, Jake’s story began in the most structured of places: the church. Growing up playing the drums during services, he found himself drawn to rhythm early on. After some time, that routine started to feel predictable. “I grew up in church playing drums; it’s very monotonous,” Jake shared. “You learn a lot of basic contemporary songs for church services, and that was always the same.”
Once Jake started to play with the musicians of Charleston, a switch flipped/his whole perspective of drumming changed. “Going from that to jamming with some guys in Charleston that were local had me hooked,” he shares. “Just as far as the free-thinking side and seeing how everyone else played differently, everyone’s mindscapes and different perspectives. It really was a thought-provoking atmosphere and just made me want to sink deeper into it. That was definitely the moment.”
Jake fondly remembers the moment that pushed his passion even further, inspired by the city’s live music scene. Specifically, when The Thing, a Brooklyn-based rock band, played a show at The Royal American, drummer Lucas Ebeling made a lasting impression. “That was a heavy-hitting show,” he recalls. “Their energy is always just amazing, and honestly, some of my favorite music to watch live in general. Being around that made me want to get better and better, and not just that, but full-time.”
Fueled by inspiration and momentum, Jake joined the band, a group of friends from one of South Carolina’s coastal towns. And before long, he found himself keeping time with a kick drum marked “WINYAH.”
Pictured Above: Jake Riley back stage with bandmates. Photo by @brookiejennfilm.
On “Lot to Learn” Debut Album
With their 10-song debut, Lot to Learn, released in early 2025, WINYAH delivers the satisfying sound of a band confidently stepping into its identity. Each track experiments with its own style, from breezy folk melodies to alt-leaning textures, while staying grounded in the same central themes.
For Jake, who joined just as the record was taking shape, learning the songs from the inside out was an exciting process. When I asked if there was one track that took a little extra focus to lock into at first, he stated without hesitation, “A Lot To Learn.”
“When I first joined the group, it was definitely a Lot To Learn, just the tempo changes and the groove itself,“ he admits. That challenge quickly turned into one of his most significant rewards, “(it was) such an amazing song to play live, shoutout to Stephen (Stephen Russell, WINYAH’s bass player) for writing that. That one is probably my favorite to play, but also the hardest to learn at first.” “A Lot To Learn is such an upbeat classic,“ he reminisced on their live performances of the song, “Everybody sings the lyrics, it’s crazy in the moment. That excitement, it’s beyond the best feeling in the world playing in front of that many people.”
When it comes to his all-time favorite to perform, Jake’s answer is instant: “Thread. Hands down, without a doubt, Thread… It’s one of my favorites to play and just feels emotionally the best, especially when it goes well and everybody’s really digging it. Thread live, Thread recording, everything about it was just such a good process. That song itself is just a feel-good song for me. I love it to death.“
Pictured Above: Jake Riley drumming. Photo by @samwilphoto.
When it comes to performing, he says the setting shapes everything… but the energy stays the same. “There’s definitely some differences,“ he explains. “At a big festival, there’s a lot more manpower and production that goes into it, and we just want to make our slot worth being there, making sure the fans are happy.“ He describes their Lollapalooza set as one of his favorite shows yet. Smaller bar shows tend to bring a different kind of playful edge. “That’s one of those nights you can have a couple drinks and experiment a little on certain songs,“ he says with a laugh. “We’re there to work and show people what we’ve got, but we always try to have as much fun as we possibly can.”
Viral Outdoor Sessions
If you’ve seen Winyah online, chances are it was through one of their outdoor “driveway sessions,” the stripped-down acoustic performances filmed in the band members’ driveways and open spaces that have become fan favorites. When I asked Jake why he thinks they might be so appealing to the fans, he said “I think they resonate just because it’s pretty obtainable,” explaining “When you see a bunch of people playing music in a backyard, I think the automatic thought is, I could probably do that if I had a few friends who wanted to play music with me.“
Whatever the true reason may be, it’s undeniable that the relaxed, unpolished setup is magnetizing. “It’s more laid back than the actual recordings, and just seeing how it’s played and how we interpret the song is what people connect to,” Jake says. He credits other bands, like Arcy Drive and Penelope Road, for inspiring the idea.
Pictured Above: Winyah Band from the “Lot to Learn” cover. Photo Credit: Harrison Hargrave.
One of those sessions, their cover of Tame Impala’s “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards,“ became a hit. “The process of deciding what to cover is usually kind of on a whim,“ Jake says. “For that song in particular, we had already been covering it for a little bit and decided on it in about five minutes. We were just trying to make content for Instagram, and it turned into that whole project, which was pretty amazing.“ The group just recently released their cover, which is officially available to stream now.
The Road Ahead
Looking ahead, Jake’s goals for the band are lofty, but aligned with his passion, skill, and persistence. “I would love to see WINYAH achieve pretty much, like, world-known status,” he says. “That would be really cool, to visit different places and, you know, just to have people listen to the music is pretty incredible.”
Pictured Above: Jake Riley drumming with bandmates at concert. Photo Credit: @winyah on instagram.
For him, the dream is as much about connection as it is accomplishment. “Playing bigger shows, bigger venues, that’s our goal at the end of the day,“ he adds. “It would be a huge accomplishment to play somewhere like Red Rocks or a bigger festival like that. That’s always on our mind.”
On a personal level, his goals are honest and grounded, proof that even as the band continues to rise in fame, Jake’s focus stays on the craft. “For me, personally, just getting better at fills, staying in the pocket more, playing to a metronome more — those are obviously smaller goals,“ he says. “Long-term, maybe a stick sponsorship or working with a drum company or something like that. That would be amazing, just to know that I’m good enough to have that kind of support. Drumsticks are expensive, and everything drumming-related is stupid expensive,“ he laughs. “So yeah, that’s definitely what I’m going for.”
Pictured Above: Jake Riley drumming for Winyah. Photo Credit: @rp_sehorn
There’s an ease in the way Jake talks about what lies ahead – no pressure, just purpose. He’s doing what he loves, and the rest seems to be falling into place.
To keep up with Jake Riley and his ventures with WINYAH, you can find them on social media under @winyahband and on all major streaming platforms under @winyah. The band just released their new single “Nothin’ at All,” and details for their upcoming There’s No Place I’d Rather Be Tour can be found on their website.
