The Wood Brothers

The Wood Brothers

The Wood Brothers are an American folk group from Boulder, Colorado, made up of brothers Chris Wood and Oliver Wood with multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix. The group starts in 2004 and remains active.

Background

Oliver and Chris Wood both grow up in Boulder and leave after high school, with Oliver moving to Atlanta and Chris to New York. Oliver is a guitarist who develops a songwriting style and forms the blues-based band King Johnson, which plays regularly on the Southern circuit. Chris is a bassist who plays jazz and rock in New York and later joins John Medeski and Billy Martin in the jazz-funk trio Medeski, Martin & Wood.

The brothers begin playing together at family gatherings, and their shared sound develops around blues, folk and rock. The trio’s wider style also fits folk, jam band, modern blues, progressive bluegrass, roots rock and stomp and holler.

Recordings and activity

The Wood Brothers privately release the Live at Tonic EP, taken from their first public concert at New York’s Tonic venue. They sign to Blue Note Records and release their debut album, Ways Not to Lose, in 2006. The album includes Kenny Wollesen on drums on five tracks and is produced by John Medeski at Allarie Studios in Shokan, New York.

Their discography includes Loaded, Up Above My Head, The Muse, Paradise, Live at the Barn, One Drop of Truth, Live at the Fillmore, Kingdom in My Mind, Heart is the Hero and Puff of Smoke.