Blake Havard teams up with acclaimed songwriter and producer Pete Droge on “Wave Goodbye,” a warm, rootsy single that turns heartbreak into a clever, step-by-step guide to letting go.
The phone call came the morning after a gig. A friend of Blake Havard’s had just caught Seattle songwriter Pete Droge in concert, and he couldn’t wait to report back.
“He said, ‘I saw this Pete Droge guy last night and he was just like you!’” Havard remembers.
That tip sparked one of the happiest creative partnerships of Havard’s career, eventually leading to the release of “Wave Goodbye” on October 16, 2026.
Blending Americana, roots rock, and classic pop influences, the single delivers a heartfelt message about moving forward, complete with playful lyrics, laid-back instrumentation, and a touch of humour.
Blake Havard Wave Goodbye: A Creative Partnership With Pete Droge
After hearing about Droge, Havard picked up one of his CDs and immediately recognized a kindred musical spirit.
“I could hear some of the same influences in his music,” he explains.
Those shared influences included ’70s rock, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and the golden era of songwriting that helped shape Havard’s musical identity.
Havard eventually attended one of Droge’s concerts, introduced himself, and began sharing demos with the Seattle musician.
“We began tweaking the lyrics and arrangements, and we just seemed to work really well together,” he recalls.
Droge brought an impressive musical background to the collaboration, having toured with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and co-founded The Thorns alongside Matthew Sweet and Shawn Mullins.
On “Wave Goodbye,” Droge serves as co-writer and producer while contributing acoustic and electric guitar.
Blake Havard Records “Wave Goodbye” Live Near Seattle
The origins of “Wave Goodbye” trace back to an upstairs room in an old mansion located in a Vancouver park, where Havard had created a small recording space.
It was there that he spent countless hours writing and recording, eventually developing the original demo.
The song later travelled to Droge’s studio on an island near Seattle, where the musicians took a live approach to recording.
“We tracked them live as a band, which gave the recordings a really natural feel,” Havard explains.
Havard contributed Wurlitzer electric piano and electric guitar, while Droge enlisted two members of his band, the Sinners: drummer and percussionist Rob Brill and bassist David Hull, whose credits include filling in for Tom Hamilton in Aerosmith.
“I was surrounded by some great musicians,” Havard says. “We overdubbed the vocal afterwards, but the foundation of the song was all of us playing together in the room.”
That collaborative approach gives “Wave Goodbye” its relaxed, organic character, allowing the instrumentation and storytelling to complement one another naturally.
“Wave Goodbye” Turns Heartbreak Into a Playful Musical Journey
Rather than approaching heartbreak with overwhelming sadness, Havard takes a more lighthearted direction.
“Wave Goodbye” unfolds like a step-by-step guide to navigating the end of a relationship, balancing emotional honesty with tongue-in-cheek humour.
The song opens with advice about falling in love before moving into the familiar territory of heartbreak and recovery.
Throughout the track, Havard acknowledges the clichés that often accompany breakup songs, even poking fun at the songwriting tradition itself.
The result is a relatable, comforting track that finds humour in difficult moments without dismissing the emotions behind them.
Musically, the song draws from classic rock and piano-driven pop, with an unmistakable nod to Elton John.
For Havard, that influence stretches all the way back to childhood.
“Elton was a huge part of my musical upbringing,” he recalls. “When I was a kid, I’d come home from school, put on my Mom’s sunglasses, sit behind her little tin fold-out coffee table and pretend it was a piano while I sang along to Elton’s greatest hits. I guess some of that kid eventually made it into the song.”
Blake Havard Revisits a Long-Forgotten Song
Although “Wave Goodbye” was recorded years earlier, the song remained unreleased until Havard decided it deserved another opportunity to connect with listeners.
“Every now and then, though, a song comes back around and reminds you why you wrote it in the first place,” he explains.
“I decided it was time to pull this one out, dust it off and finally let it go. ‘Wave Goodbye’ is a beautiful little tune, and I think it’s time for it to be heard.”
Born in Edmonton and later establishing himself in Vancouver during the city’s thriving 2000s indie rock scene, Havard has built a career as a songwriter, musician, and producer.
His work has connected him with musicians associated with Foo Fighters, Bryan Adams, and Bob Dylan, reflecting a career rooted in collaboration and a deep appreciation for songwriting.
With “Wave Goodbye,” Havard brings those experiences together in a song that feels both nostalgic and refreshing.
Five Questions With Blake Havard
Hi, Blake! Good to meet you! Care to introduce yourself to our readers who may not be familiar with your music?
Good to meet you, too!
My name is Blake Havard, and I am a Vancouver-based singer-songwriter originally from Edmonton. I have been writing, recording, and playing shows for a few decades.
My music has a bit of that ’60s guitar jangle with a country-rock singer-songwriter vibe.
You should go to your preferred streaming platform, hit play, and crank it up. Now! Ha ha.
It’s quality. I’m telling you!
“Wave Goodbye” approaches heartbreak with humour, almost like a step-by-step instruction manual for getting your heart broken. Was that humour always part of the song, or did it come from gaining some distance from the experience? Do you think there’s a point where heartbreak becomes something you can finally laugh about?
There definitely wasn’t a lot of humour when I sat down and started writing “Wave Goodbye.”
I had just come out of a relationship and was still feeling great loss and sadness. At the time, I was living in an old, rundown mansion in an isolated park area of Vancouver. Perfect for writing heartbreak songs, ha ha. I had my recording gear on a floor and demoed up a lot of tunes.
It was part of my therapy! It wasn’t painting by numbers; I was feeling it! Maybe that is why the song feels so genuine. There is a tip of the hat to a bygone era of songwriting, so maybe the step-by-step heartbreak manual is a bit tongue-in-cheek.
If you don’t have a little humour looking back, you can easily lose your mind. We are all only human. Life does not always run in a straight line.
Your collaboration with Pete Droge began because a friend heard him perform and thought the two of you sounded alike. When you finally started writing together, what did Pete recognize in your songwriting that you might not have recognized yourself? How did working with him change the way you approached your music?
Pete is a great writer/producer. I had some great raw material, and he helped me sew it together.
I was too close to it, so it was nice to have someone come in and help polish it up.
I knew it was good, but it’s all in the details. Pete is good with details!
I had to step outside of my comfort zone to make the song better.
You learn from everyone you work with! Every song can have a different approach.
We had similar influences and sensibilities. It worked out!
You recorded “Wave Goodbye” live with the band, capturing everyone playing together in the same room. In an era when musicians can build entire records without ever meeting in person, what do you think gets lost when that human chemistry disappears? Was there a particular moment during those sessions when you knew you’d captured something special?
I know good recordings can be made in many ways. When everyone is in the same room, a different kind of magic can happen. You can’t get the same vibe any other way.
I knew we were getting something; you could feel it in the room. It was exciting!
Like the first time I got some school friends together to jam in a garage, it was exciting and magical. Those moments are worth striving for and repeating.
You remember pretending to be Elton John as a kid, wearing your mother’s sunglasses and using a coffee table as a piano. Now you’ve released a song that carries some of that early influence. If you could go back and tell that little kid about the musical life you’ve built, what would surprise him most? And after keeping “Wave Goodbye” on the shelf for so long, what made you feel that this was finally the right moment to share it?
I think little Blake would wonder why I was not a bigger musical success. Ha ha!
I have written and recorded some pretty good music, so I suppose he would be slightly impressed!
It’s hard to say why “Wave Goodbye” was on the shelf. I remastered it in Nashville, and it really brought it back to life for me. I think it sounds beautiful. I am proud of how it turned out.
There are a few more tracks from that session that I will eventually get out. I am also in the middle of recording some brand-new material that will be released next spring.
It’s “Wave Goodbye’s” time now! I hope your readers listen and enjoy it!
Connect with Blake Havard:
Website | Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok
