The saying that artists have their entire lives to make a debut album was never more true than with The Wood Brothers. After decades of intermittent collaboration dating back to their childhood, the divergent musical paths of brothers Oliver and Chris Wood met at the crossroads of their stunningly spare and raw debut Ways Not To Lose in 2006. Growing up, Oliver and Chris were encouraged to play music from an early age by their father Bill Wood, an alumnus of the storied Cambridge, Massachussetts, folk scene of the late 1950s. Oliver recalls he first took up bass but remaindered it to his younger brother Chris after being smitten with the guitar. As teenagers they wrote together and even made home recordings. Eventually, as Oliver puts it, “I moved to Atlanta and became a southerner. Chris moved to New York City and became a Yankee.” Chris would go on to world acclaim with Medeski Martin & Wood, playing the instrument his brother handed down to him. Once in Atlanta, Oliver formed his own band, the blues-steeped King Johnson, and sat-in on the occasional Medeski Martin & Wood gig. A family gathering in 2004 convinced the brothers that their unique musical alchemy deserved more than occasional cultivation. With John Medeski as producer, they recorded nine of Oliver’s original compositions, co-wrote two new songs, and added a cover for good measure (the traditional gospel tune “Angel Band”). The songs possess a timeless quality; their bedrock melodies and astutely observed stories sound instantly archetypal. There are echoes of country blues, Appalachian bluegrass, and New Orleans R&B. Oliver’s inimitable vocals—yearning, rueful, jubilant—are set within expressive yet economical arrangements created by his own impressionistic guitar riffs, Chris’ nimble, note-bending bass lines, and the textural percussion of Kenny Wollesen on several tracks.

Tracklist:
A1 One More Day
A2 Tried And Tempted
A3 Luckiest Man
A4 Glad
A5 Chocolate On My Tongue
A6 Atlas
B1 Time To Stand Still
B2 The Truth Is The Light
B3 Spirit
B4 Angel Band
B5 Where My Baby Might Be
B6 That's What Angels Can Do

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The Wood Brothers - Ways Not To Lose LP