Oliver Wood

Fat Cat Silhouette

Honey Jar/Indinendo

When the lead singer and principal songwriter of The Wood Brothers, Oliver Wood released his first solo album, 2021’s Always Smilin,’ the overriding takeaway was joy, a boost for us all emerging from the pandemic shutdown period. Some of those vibes remain on his second, Fat Cat Silhouette, but Wood is after something different here, a more experimental effort that takes chances, breaks rules, and somehow retains that infectious groove, so integral to The Wood Brothers’ sound throughout. Instead of producing, which he is more than fully capable of doing, he turned to his bandmate, Jano Rix, a kindred spirit who plays drums and keyboards simultaneously in live performance and uses the guitar as a percussion device. Suffice it say, Rix, who has also become an astute producer for the likes of Brigette DeMeyer, Seth Walker, and a few others. Here he also plays his trademark mix of percussion and keys. Commenting on the approach, Wood offered, “I wanted to get outside my box and embrace the uncertainty of what’s out there…I wanted weird guitar tones…I wanted more percussion and less drums…Once we began experimenting an d doing whatever we wanted, the pressure melted away and I felt liberated.”

Other than bassist Ted Pecchio, who is part of the core trio along with Wood and Rix, no one else returns from Always Smilin.’ Instead, we have these contributors on select tracks: vocalists Katie Pruitt and Tana Elizabeth, baritone saxophonist Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), flutist and fife player Marcus Henderson, sousaphonist Brook Sutton, and drummer/percussionist Rob Crawford. Pecchio and Rix also join on vocals. The choice of instruments alone let you know that this is not a conventional roots album. Co-writers Seth Walker, Sean McConnell, Ric Robertson, and some of the guest musicians assist as well. Much of what takes place is spontaneous with the album recorded directly to analog tape.

Wood’s one-of-a-kind voice, high-pitched, reedy thin yet powerful, is, of course, the constant that runs through these nine tunes.  When at home and off the road, Wood usually starts the day with a cup of coffee and writing pad in hand, which seems to be the case with the opener “Light and Sweet” referencing a sparrow on the windowsill. The groove is in place from the get-go punctuated with Henderson’s flute and plenty of ‘oohs” from the backing vocalists. That groove thickens on the infectious stomper “Whom I Adore” with Henderson and Berlin taking respectively the high and low ends while Rix and Crawford (on marching bass drum) deliver light, percussion. Berlin’s baritone and Pecchio’s driving bassline underpin the highly danceable, foot tapping standout “Yo I Surrender,” about which Wood says, “has the words guitar sound I’ve ever heard in my life, and I just love it.”

“Grab Ahold,” the co-write with Walker, is a seemingly conventional stomping, swaying country blues that gives Wood a chance to stretch out on his guitar, which he muddies with distortion, thus taking it in a slightly different direction. Similarly, “Somebody Blues,” co-written with Robertson is a seductively sinuous ballad, that doesn’t quite adhere to structure, with Tana Elizabeth harmonizing with Wood. Yet, “Star in the Corner,” a mid-tempo ballad, tailor made for horn parts instead has the core trio replicating that sound with a faux choir of vocal oohs and oohs backing Woods’ lead, which is among the most emotive in this set. The searing soul ballad “Have You No Shame” was written by one of Wood’s mentors, the legendary Atlanta musician and songwriter Donnie McCormick. Katie Pruitt does a terrific job duetting with Wood over Rix’s organ and Woods’ left field guitar chords.

Wood and Rix render “Little Worries” as a duo, simply guitar and percussion in another of those ‘morning’ songs with images of a cat in the window, pancakes in the skillet, and a mind freeing itself of worries. “Fortune Drives the Bus” is a Wood original, also performed as duo, with Rix harmonizing on the tune, fittingly the sparsest of them all as the closer.

The experimentation, left turns, and unexpected instrumental choices prove more subtle than heavy handed. With Oliver Wood it is always the groove that holds the most sway. No matter what, he has a knack for the infectious.

• Jim Hynes

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