The Wood Brothers

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Oliver and Christopher Wood were born in California before moving with their parents to Boulder, Colorado. Their father, Bill Wood, is a Harvard-trained microbiologist—but in the late Fifties, he also was active as a singer and guitarist on the Boston-Cambridge folk revival scene. In 1959, Bill Wood performed three duets with his good friend Joan Baez (as well as several solo tracks) on the album Folksingers 'Round Harvard Square—Joan’s first commercially available recordings.

After his older brother had taught him the rudiments of electric bass, Chris began formal lessons on the acoustic upright. He played in the Boulder High School jazz band, sang in the madrigal choir, and was working local jazz gigs well before his graduation.

After studying at the New England Conservatory of Music, Chris Wood landed in New York and met John Medeski. In 1991, they joined forces with drummer Billy Martin to form Medeski Martin & Wood. MMW have toured the world and released eleven albums to date including 2004’s acclaimed Blue Note set End of the World Party (Just in Case).

Oliver Wood attended the University of California-Santa Cruz for a few years before relocating to Atlanta. His first full-time gig was playing second guitar with Atlanta bluesman Tinsley Ellis, an important early mentor who encouraged him to sing as well as play. After two years of roadwork and recording with Ellis, Oliver felt ready to form his own band.

King Johnson was founded in 1995 as a trio with Oliver (guitar), Chris Long (bass and vocals), and Greg Baba (drums), then expanded to a six-piece with the addition of sax, trombone, and percussion. King Johnson’s good-time blend of New Orleans funk, blues, jazz, Latin, and rock earned the band a devoted Southeast following and steady sales for its five albums.

During a family gathering in the summer of 2004, The Wood Brothers began working up some tunes, rearranging some King Johnson songs, and recording their first demos. In December 2004, the duo retreated to a studio near Chris’ home in Saugerties, New York, to create a more professional demo—one that soon elicited an offer from Blue Note.

Meanwhile, Chris and Oliver began playing gigs as a duo in the early spring of 2005. In September, they entered Allaire Studios to record Ways Not To Lose.

On Ways Not To Lose, the songs—sung and largely composed by Oliver Wood—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 (electric and National steel-bodied) guitar riffs, Chris’ nimble, note-bending bass lines, and the textural percussion of Kenny Wollesen on several tracks.

The twelve tracks that comprise Ways Not To Lose were recorded in one week of September 2005 at Allaire Studios in bucolic Shokan, New York. Nearly all the tracking was done with the musicians playing live, together in one room. The sessions were produced by Medeski Martin & Wood keyboards wizard John Medeski and engineered by S. Husky Höskulds (whose session credits include the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Fiona Apple, and Solomon Burke, among many others).

Best of 2006: Amazon.com and NPR Picks

In the annual Amazon.com Editors Pick, The Wood Brothers debut album "Ways Not to Lose" is the Amazon.com Editors' number one pick in folk for 2006.

NPR's "Overlooked 11" honors the overlooked gems of 2006, which includes "Ways Not to Lose".