The Wood Brothers
with special guest Nicole Atkins
Thursday, November 8, 2018 at 7:30PM at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, NY
The Wood Brothers hold a special place in the hearts of fans in the Capital District for their performances at Levon Helm's legendary Midnight Ramble. This trio - guitarist Oliver Wood, bassist Chris Wood, and drummer Jano Rix - adapts blues, folk, and roots music into their own evocative sound.
They will be performing songs from their vast catalog, as well as songs off their newest album, One Drop of Truth. “It’s the freest album we’ve done, the most independent album we’ve done, and was the most fun we’ve ever had making a record,” says Oliver Wood. “And most importantly, this is the most purely Wood Brothers’ album we’ve ever made.”
Indeed, The Wood Brothers’ sixth outing, One Drop of Truth, dives headfirst into a deep wellspring of sounds, styles and influences. Whereas their previous outings have often followed a conceptual and sonic through-line, here the long-standing trio featuring brothers Oliver and Chris Wood along with Jano Rix treat each song as if it were its own short film. The end result is undeniably The Wood Brothers’ most dynamic recording to date.
“Often, when you’re making an album in the traditional way, there will be a unifying concept, whether that be in the approach to the music stylistically or lyrically in terms over the overall narrative. And even though there are some themes that revealed themselves later, this one is all over the place,” explains Oliver Wood. “What I really love about this record is that each one of these songs has its own little world. There are diver-se sounds and vibes from one track to the next.”
Building off the success of their previous studio album, 2015’s ‘Paradise,’ which was dubbed “the warmest, most sublime and occasionally rowdiest Wood Brothers release yet,” by American Songwriter, the band found themselves at a fortuitous crossroads. Following a tour with Tedeschi Trucks Band, high profile festival dates and sold out headline shows, the band felt free from the cyclical album release, tour, write, record and do-it-all-over-again pressures of the traditional music business. With all three members living in Nashville affording easy access to each other and a wealth of local independent studios at their disposal, they started work in January of 2017 with a new approach.
“Instead of going into one studio and recording it all at the same time, we picked a couple studios, and started to experiment,” says Chris Wood. “Sometimes we’d just make demos of songs to see if we got anything we liked. There was no pressure, and that really freed us up. We just did one or two songs a day, put it aside, let the songs simmer, and then we’d have a fresh perspective on what was working or not working. You need time to go by to gain objectivity.”
Fittingly titled, One Drop of Truth, the latest entry in The Wood Brothers evolution finds three musicians being true to themselves. At a point in their career where most artists would be looking to strategically position themselves for even greater commercial success, they instead turned to artistic expression in service of the muse. In chaotic times when honesty is in short supply and ulterior motives seem to always be at play, The Wood Brothers put faith in themselves and ultimately their audience by writing and recording a collection of songs that is honest and pure. As they sing on the album’s title track: “Rather die hungry / than feasting on lies / Give me one drop of truth / I cannot deny.”
Video for “Happiness Jones”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKIoiVWwF5A&start_radio=1&list=RDLKIoiVWwF5A
The Wood Brothers Website: https://www.thewoodbros.com/
“A voice that could melt the heart of a devil… When Nicole Atkins sings, she sounds like Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline and Janis Joplin all rolled into one voice.” - NPR
Named Rolling Stone’s "Top 10 Artists To Watch" in 2007 for her debut album Neptune City, Nicole Atkins has appeared on numerous late night TV shows, including “The Late Show with David Letterman”, “Conan”, and “Later… with Jools Holland”, and featured in media outlets ranging from the New York Times to Time magazine. She has toured throughout the US and Europe, both headlining and also touring with The Black Keys, Mavis Staples, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Primal Scream, Chris Isaak and the Avett Brothers.
Nicole Atkins fourth studio album, GOODNIGHT RHONDA LEE, will be released on July 21st on Single Lock Records. The album, a vintage soul album inspired legendary artists like Dusty Springfield, Candi Staton, Roy Orbison and Janis Joplin, was produced by Niles City Sound (Leon Bridges), with additional mixing by Ben Tanner (Alabama Shakes).