Dubbed “masters of soulful folk” by Paste, The Wood Brothers formed after brothers Chris & Oliver Wood pursued separate musical careers for 15 years. Chris already had legions of devoted fans for his incomparable work as one-third of Medeski Martin & Wood, while Oliver toured with Tinsley Ellis before releasing a half-dozen albums with his band King Johnson. With drummer Jano Rix added as a permanent 3rd member, it’s become quite clear that The Wood Brothers is most definitely the main act. Blue Note released their debut ‘Ways Not To Lose’ in 2006 & ‘Loaded’ 2008. The band moved to Zac Brown’s Southern Ground Artists for ‘Smoke Ring Halo’ with ‘The Muse’ to follow in 2013. After relocating to Nashville, The Wood Brothers released ‘Paradise’ in 2015 recorded at Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye studio. In 2016, the band returned to Levon Helm’s famed Woodstock Barn and recorded ‘Live At The Barn’ which captured their sold-out performance that night and showcased the kind of singularly eclectic & electrifying performance style that’s earned them devoted legions of fans around the world. On February 2nd, 2018, The Wood Brothers released their 6th album, ‘One Drop of Truth.’, the most independent album they have done and the end result is undeniably The Wood Brothers’ most dynamic recording to date and was recognized as such when it received a Grammy Award nomination for “Best Americana Album.” That is until 2019’s ‘Kingdom In MY Mind’. To me, this album really has all cylinders firing and the dynamic ability of this group really taking on a new shape and sound. This one left me wondering what is next.
I had the pleasure of catching back up with family to the proGram, Oliver Wood ahead of the November 3rd event featuring The Wood Brothers at The Barrymore Theatre. Oliver gives us the low down on how he would describe the group to a friend’s friend. We get in there on the what that they do. We go a little back in time and talk King Johnson and think forward with other projects, but most of all the tease of what the soon coming album will sorta kinda be like. Oliver twists and turns through how the new music came together, including spontaneity, togetherness and using all the tools in the toolbox. Oliver even builds a setlist around those potential sounds, leading one to really be hankering for the album to drop. As always, it’s nice to talk music with friends.
