photo by Alysse Gafkjen
The Wood Brothers have received their first ever GRAMMY Award-nomination for ‘One Drop of Truth,’ in the “Best Americana Album” field. Released February 2, 2018 via Honey Jar/Thirty Tigers, the 10-track collection—their sixth studio recording to date—was self-produced by the longstanding trio featuring Oliver Wood, Chris Wood and Jano Rix. In a serendipitous twist of fate, the band receives the news on the same day they’re set to play a sold out show at The Boulder Theater in Boulder, CO—the very town that brothers Oliver and Chris grew up.
Whereas previous outings by The Wood Brothers have often followed a conceptual and sonic through-line, ‘One Drop of Truth’ dives deep into a wellspring of sounds, styles and recording approaches, treating each song as if it were its own short film. The plaintive, country-folk of “River Takes the Town” gives way to the The Band-esque Americana soul of “Happiness Jones.” The stream of consciousness ballad “Strange As It Seems” floats on a cloud of ethereal beauty, standing in stark contrast to “Sky High”—a Saturday night barnburner built upon stinging slide guitar funk. “Seasick Emotions” is rife with emotional turmoil, yet “Sparkling Wine” is jaunty and carefree. The end result is undeniably The Wood Brothers’ most dynamic recording to date.
Building off the success of their previous studio album, 2015’s ‘Paradise,’ and 2017’s live release, ‘Live At the Barn,’ recorded at Levon Helm’s Barn, The Wood Brothers found themselves at a fortuitous crossroads. Thanks to a loyal and growing fanbase leading to sold out headline shows and high profile festival appearances, the band felt free from the cyclical album release, tour, write, record and do-it-all-over-again pressures. 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 on ‘One Drop Of Truth’ in January 2017 with a new approach. Instead of selecting one studio and recording the album in a pre-determined set of sessions, the band worked at a handful of different studios, stretching out the process over several months. They’d work on one song at a time, setting it aside and later revisiting the recording with fresh ears. This gave the band time to spend time with the songs they were writing, experiment with different recording ideas and develop the material over an extended period of time.
The band extended this concept to the mixing process, sending tracks to four different mixing engineers, each selected based on what the song demanded. Scotty Hard (who’s worked extensively with Medeski Martin & Wood, among others) was recruited for the “edgier, funkier tunes,” “Sky High” and “Happiness Jones.” Mike Poole (who worked on The Wood Brothers album ‘The Muse’) mixed “Sparkling Wine” and “Strange As It Seems.” Their old friend Brandon Belle from Zac Brown’s Southern Ground studio took on “Laughin’ Or Crying.” The remainder of the album was mixed by Grammy Award-winning engineer Trina Shoemaker, especially sought after by The Wood Brothers for her work with Brandi Carlile.
“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,” said Oliver Wood. “And most importantly, this is the most purely Wood Brothers’ album we’ve ever made.”
Along with tonight’s show at The Boulder Theater, The Wood Brothers close out 2018 with sold out performances in Salt Lake City, UT and Aspen, CO. They get back on the road in January 2019 with an East Coast tour that includes The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY, House of Blues in Boston, MA and a two-night stand at 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. In February, the band heads to the West Coast for a run that includes The Rialto Theatre in Tucson, AZ, The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, CA and two nights at each The Belly Up in San Diego, CA and The Fillmore in San Francisco, CA.
THE WOOD BROTHERS
Tour Schedule
Dec. 7 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater
Dec. 8 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Commonwealth
Dec. 9 – Aspen, CO – Belly Up Aspen
Jan. 15 – Winston-Salem, NC – The Ramkat
Jan. 16 – Millvale, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre
Jan. 17 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
Jan. 18 – Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
Jan. 19 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
Jan. 21 – York, PA – Strand Capitol Theatre
Jan. 22 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
Jan. 24 – Port Chester, NY – Capitol Theatre
Jan. 25 – Portland, ME – State Theatre
Jan. 26 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
Feb. 10 – Tampa, FL – Cayamo Cruise
Feb. 25 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre
Feb. 26 – Phoenix, AZ – The Crescent Ballroom
Feb. 28 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up
Mar. 1 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up
Mar. 3 – San Luis Obispo, CA – Fremont Theatre
Mar. 5 – Santa Cruz, CA – Rio Theatre
Mar. 6 – Crystal Bay, NV – Crystal Bay Club Casino
Mar. 7 – Santa Rosa, CA – Luther Burbank Center for the Arts
Mar. 8 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
Mar. 9 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
Apr. 12 – Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
Apr. 13 – Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
thewoodbrothers.com
