Diggin' the tunes

I was at work and a song came on the radio, and by the end I was hooked. Except I did'nt know who it was. Because I was at work, and our air compressor is extremely loud (as compressors go) I did'nt hear the voice of the radio personality as they announced the song. I then went (crazy) for some months before hearing it again. Finally about 2 months ago I was on my way to the grocery and I heard it. "Here's "Atlas" from The Wood Brothers debut album "Ways not to loose"."

Extremely excited to hear more I rushed through the store (forgetting a few items) and as soon as I got home I went online and started searching. I quickly found their web page thewoodbrothers.com as well as Myspace page http://www.myspace.com/thewoodbrothers. I learned that The Wood Brothers was a duet composed of Oliver Wood - Guitar&Vocals, and Chris Wood - Bass&Vocals.

It was then that I realized that Chris, (the younger of the brothers) was Wood from the experimental jazz trio Medeski, Martin, and Wood. Now I was getting, dare I say, overly excited. Chris was a musician I already listened to and loved. And I always get excited when I find something new in any genre of life. While I had listened to some blues before, it had never been my favorite style of music. Until Now.

"ways not to loose" is the brothers first full length cd project together, though they learned to play together in their youth. All the songs on the album are original composition minus one. "Angel Band" is a traditional gospel tune of great depth. The most well known recordings of this song are that of The Stanley Brothers. Though I have heard quite a few artists put their own touch to it. The most notable include a rendition on an album called "That High Lonesome Sound" by a collection of artists that called themselves "Old and in the Way". This group of artists includes one of my favorites Jerry Garcia.

But what inspired Oliver&Chris to include it in the album was the fact that their father Bill Wood was very proud of that song. He had had a radio show in the late 50's around the Cambridge/Harvard area. And he played and performed a bit with Joan Baez, that was how he ended up being on a box set of her, singing a duet of the song.


As for the rest of the tracks on this album my favorites are track #1 One More Day track #2 Tried and Tempted Track #3 Luckiest Man track #5 Chocolate on my tongue and track #6 Atlas. "Atlas" being the one that first hooked me. However I strongly recommend that all 12 songs on the album are listened to closely. The song writing skills of these two brothers speaks to me in ways most modern music does not. The words sometimes feel as if they are are my thoughts. But I guess that's what great music is supposed to do. The album was recorded in one week of September 2005, at Allaire Studios in Bucilic Shokan, NY. Almost all was done with the musicians playing live together in the same room. Now I find that quite impressive and a testiment to their link as brothers. Which you will hear them speak of in interviews. The album was produced by Chris's band mate and friend, John Medeski, keyboards for Medeski, Martin, and Wood.

There is also a seven song EP called Live at Tonic, witch was recorded at the brothers fist ever concert at New York's Tonic on March 5th, 2005. This EP is only available through the Coalition of independant music stores, at live shows, or online.
But I am most excited because the brothers are going back into the studio in June to begin recording their second LP for Bluenote Records. Which, from what I've heard, should consist of mostly if not all, new material.

Now you may be surprised to know that I do not work for them. And I in no way receive payment for this blog.
I AM JUST THAT EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!