The Wood Brothers October 22, 2010

For Chris and Oliver Wood, music has always been a family affair. Raised in Boulder, Colorado by a Harvard-trained microbiologist father and a poet mother, The Wood Brothers
grew up immersed in music. Their father was part of the late 1950's Boston-Cambridge folk revival scene and played with Joan Baez and introduced his sons to the world of folk and country music.

The Wood brothers wrote and played together growing up, then wound up on divergent paths in pursuit of their individual music careers. Oliver moved to Atlanta where he embraced the blues/ rock music scene and fronted the band King Johnson, while Chris ended up in the vibrant, underground music scene of New York City and is bassist and one third of the improvisational trio, Medeski Martin & Wood.

It wasn't until 2003, when Chris and Oliver shared the same stage as part of a King Johnson/ Medeski Martin & Wood double bill, that they realized there was potential for a duo project. As Chris recalls, "Oliver sat in with us - he just played guitar, didn't sing but he was so good and so familiar. Even though we'd been pursuing music in two very different worlds, we shared a perspective that made our collaboration feel really natural."

In 2004 Chris and Oliver began working up songs, retreated for writing sessions and in March 2006, released their debut album, Ways Not to Lose on Blue Note Records. The songs - sung and largely composed by Oliver Wood - possessed a timeless quality. There were echoes of country blues, Appalachian bluegrass and New Orleans R&B. Oliver's vocals were set within expressive arrangements created by his guitar riffs and Chris' nimble, note-bending bass lines. It is a spare
and raw album, a "loose reimagining of American roots styles...earthy, acoustic original songs spiced with a shot of hipster irreverence," said Rolling Stone. The twelve tracks comprising Ways Not to Lose embodied a tinge of sadness and struggle but also a strong spirit of resilience and fortitude.