The Wood Brothers

The Wood Brothers come by their music honestly. Like other famous brothers on the country scene – Delmore, Monroe, Stanley – they grew up with folk songs (father) and poetry (mother) surrounding them. That was in Boulder, Colorado, home of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, dontcha know.  

Unlike those other brothers, the Woods didn’t form a group in their teens. In fact, brothers Chris and Oliver went their separate musical ways. Oliver left for Atlanta where he played R&B, funk and country in several bands. Chris moved to the Northeast where he studied jazz and bass at the New England Conservatory of music, then moved to New York where he co-founded the jazz ensemble, Medeski, Martin and Wood.

It was about twenty years ago that the brothers joined forces, along with jazz piano and percussionist Jano Rix, to create the mostly Nashville-based Americana trio (Chris now resides here in BC) you’ll see in the park this summer. The divergent paths the brothers followed before coming together is reflected in the music they play now. On the one hand it is great and straight songwriting, but musically, the jazz element is a strong presence giving the lyrics a definite twist. 

The Wood Brothers could and would, can and will deliver as strong a body of work as you’re likely to find in contemporary roots music today.

– GC