The Wood Brothers live at the Fillmore in Fishtown, Philadelphia

(Originally published on Independentphilly.com)

A little bit sweet and a little bit bitter perfectly describes the surreal experience that was the Wood Brothers live at the Fillmore in Fishtown. Brothers Oliver and Chris Wood, have been playing together all of their lives and it was a little bit sweet to see this roots-rock-country powerhouse pack Philly’s finest room.   But sometimes the magnetic verse and acoustic gemstones produced on stage are best suited for a more intimate venue leaving some hard core fans a little bit bitter that their best kept secret is no longer their own.  Anytime these brothers together with now permanent third member Jano Rix bring their songs to life pure magic and true beauty ensues. Most that bear witness leave with their hearts & souls transformed.

The magic is in the music which goes right to the heart.  The three creators together seem much larger than the sum of their parts. Pound for pound Chris Wood is easily the most versatile bass player alive today – i challenge anyone to find an instrumentalist that can jump from electric to acoustic with such skill, ease and alacrity. Jano plays both drums and keyboards (at the same time!) and seems like he has 7 brains all firing simultaneously at lightning speed.  And then there’s  Oliver who might be the most underrated slide guitarist on the scene today – able to shred like Duanne Allman or switch to acoustic  and pick like Chet Atkins.

But the true beauty of any Brothers song resides in the poetry that takes over the soul.  Though emotional struggle is a repeated thread, so too is the warm solace of how much wisdom comes from hard times.   There’s also a certain simplicity to their almost Buddha like way of celebrating the simple joys of life.  Credit their mother, a poet, who instilled a passion for storytelling and a turn of phrase coupled with the unrivaled bond of a shared childhood and emotional journey for creating a powerful pen to match their battle born musical swords.

As Oliver Wood shared with us, “This is the biggest crowd we’ve ever played for in Philly and we’re so happy because  $1 from every ticket sold will go towards helping women survivors recover and heal from trafficking, prostitution, and addiction.”

Thistle Farms is a nonprofit social enterprise based in Nashville, TN, providing a safe place to live, a meaningful job, and a lifelong sisterhood of support. For more info, visit https://thistlefarms.org/pages/our-mission.