Muddy Bottom Blues
Program #134 (March 16 at 8:00 p.m. and March 17 at 3:00 p.m.)
A roots music trio featuring brothers Chris (upright bass, vocals) and Oliver Wood (guitars, vocals) along with multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix, the Wood Brothers bring a distinctive flair to their union of folk, blues, gospel, and jazz.
Growing up in Boulder, Colorado, Chris and Oliver were exposed to American roots music at a young age by their parents and eventually started their own individual music careers, with Chris finding widespread success in the '90s as one-third of the adventurous jazz trio Medeski, Martin, & Wood and Oliver fronting the Atlanta-based funky roots combo King Johnson.
In the mid-2000s, the two brothers' musical paths intertwined and they formed the Wood Brothers with Rix, signing to Blue Note Records and releasing their 2006 debut, Ways Not to Lose. While not a commercial success, the album was praised by critics and the group followed up in 2008 with Loaded, further exploring an organic myriad of American styles.
An eight-song covers album, Up Above My Head, preceded 2011's Smoke Ring Halo, their first for the Southern Ground label. Widely hailed as a top-notch live act, the Wood Brothers issued a pair of concert albums in 2012's Live, Vol. 1: Sky High and Live, Vol. 2: Nail and Tooth.
Released in 2013, The Muse marked their first chart entry, displaying their versatile appeal with strong showings on the country, folk, indie, and rock charts. The 2015 album Paradise fared even better, hitting number one on Billboard's Heatseekers chart and further expanding the trio's fan base.
For their sixth outing, the Wood Brothers took a looser approach to recording, working slowly at a number of different studios and experimenting a bit more with their formula. The resulting One Drop of Truth was released in early 2018.
(provided by Allmusic)
