A Friday Night with The Wood Brothers

The Wood Brothers rocked Funk 'n' Waffles last Friday night

PREVIEW: VISIT The Wood Brothers’ Website
PHOTOS forthcoming!

The Friday night crowd wasted no time whooping and hollering during The Wood Brothers’ first song, a funky take on Steve Earle’s “Mystery Train Part II.”

“Feels like a Friday night,” guitarist Oliver Wood said, acknowledging the energetic crowd.

The brotherly duo treated the crowd to a night of personal, soulful, and bluesy songs.  The music was carried by Oliver Wood’s pitch-perfect trebly vocals and bassist Chris Wood’s eloquent and tasteful lines.   For this special show, they were joined by percussionist Jed Kosiner, who added rhythmic textures on his snare drum, cymbals, and pandeiro (a Latin, tambourine-like instrument).

Oliver later gave his appreciation for “The Wood Brothers dancers,” the smiling mini crowd of twirlers to his left the whole show.  You would have guessed they were a rock band by the way the crowd yelled during songs.

“The foundations of their music are spiritually inspiring.  If you look inside to the nature of yourself, you’ll see that that’s what they’re singing about.  The spirit,” said Funk ‘n’ Waffles co-owner Kyle Corea.

Chris Wood, also the bassist for Medeski, Martin, & Wood, brought his signature sound.  He took off on imaginative solos, making indescribable sounds with his upright bass we hadn’t heard anyone else make.  He didn’t need to watch his hands throughout his performance, and when he did it seems like he did for personal amusement.

Oliver Wood can hold his own as well.  He effortlessly threw in guitar licks in between his lush vocals lines, sometimes finger-picking a solo as Chris danced over the changes.  His guitar-work received notable applause during the blues jam “Spirit.”

And the two could harmonize.  Confident crooners.  Chris Wood sang soaring harmonies that blended organically with brother Oliver’s.   To the band’s delight, the crowd sang loud for a few choice tunes as well.

“If I die young / At least I got some chocolate on my tongue,” the room sang during “Chocolate on My Tongue.”

Before the show, Oliver Wood shared some insight on his approach to writing lyrics.  He said he writes a lot from personal experiences and likes that his songs have multiple interpretations.

Chris Wood said touring with his brother keeps things fresh for him, and it gives them time to catch up. He said the two do not spend much time together off the road.  When they come together, they play shows.

The Wood Brothers have new material they’ve been playing on the road and plan to put it on an album in the next two years.

Before ending the show with a danceable song, the two encored with “Luckiest Man,” the most requested song of the night, which erupted in a sing-a-long.

Oliver Wood complimented his vocal fans:  “You all sound great tonight!”

The 20-year resident of Georgia even shared some of his southern jokes.

“In Georgia, they say ‘Hey can you cut on the lights?’”

The crowd chuckled.

“You know what they mean, but why would you say it that way?”

– Gene Wexler

[Via http://20watts.wordpress.com]

Author Interview ~ Steph Bowe

It was a beautiful day in Twifty land, as some of us (uh, Race) experienced a light snowfall, Christmas music, baking, gift wrapping… and an awesome interview with an awesome author. The writer in us could not ask for more for Christmas. That is, unless the “more” was a guest post from the same awesome author.

Wait. Both?

That is right. The incredible Steph Bowe has granted TWFT a fantastic interview today. And soon she’ll be penning a guest post on what Race believes should be a fabulous probe into the publishing industry as applies to teen writers!

Visit her at www.heyteenager.blogspot.com and enjoy the interview!

TWFT: Describe your novel in a single sentence?

SB: When Jewel saves Sacha’s life, they are both forced to confront pasts they’ve so carefully concealed – a lost brother, an empty space where a mother should be, a debilitating illness, fractured families and buried secrets.

TWFT: Do you usually try to follow an outline? Any process you normally go through?

SB: I don’t follow an outline, I just write the novel without a plan, start to finish. It works pretty well for me, though there are a lot of things that have to be cleaned up in editing (stuff like character-arcs and getting rid of pointless scenes, which are things I might have avoided had I outlined).

TWFT: Do you consider yourself a writer or a story teller?

SB: I don’t really consider myself either (I just love to write). I do tell stories, but I think that’s what a writer does, anyway.

TWFT: Do you write what you know?

SB: I do, and I don’t. I think it’s the same for a lot of writers. I write the emotions that I know well, but I don’t write my own experiences. Writing allows me to explore things I haven’t experienced first hand, but also be introspective at the same time.

TWFT: How do you discover your characters? Or do they discover you?

SB: A bit of both. Sometimes I start with a name, sometimes with a trait (garden gnome thief, science genius), sometimes the whole character appears fully-formed in my head, with a story they deman be written. It really does vary from character to character, though they always come easily.

TWFT: Did you have a soundtrack for your novel, or any particular type of music you listened to while writing?

SB: Yes! I have a soundtrack for all my major writing projects. My soundtrack for the last novel was made up of songs by The Killers, Kings Of Leon, Regina Spektor, the Kinks and Aussie band Augie March (look up One Crowded Hour on YouTube - brilliant song).

TWFT: What first inspired you to become a writer? Career-wise, did you always want to be an author?

SB: Ever since I was very small I have loved writing, and since I was about seven, I’ve aspired to sell a book so that I could buy my family a house. This has not yet happened, but it will! Someday!

TWFT: Favorite novel or writer? Why?

SB: Can’t pick one! My favorite writers are John Green, Sarah Dessen and Melina Marchetta, and my favorite book right now is a tie between Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell and Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson.

TWFT: Now, I know you have a the guest post coming up (We’re so excited!), and you will be discussing the industry and teens. But, in general, if you had a few words on your experiences with querying for the first time? Any advice for our readers?

SB: My experience of querying was very quick, but still incredibly stressful. My advice to writers querying for the first time is that they should try and keep a good sense of humor through the entire process, and not automatically accept if one agent offers (it’s a big decision, there’s no rush, and if one agent offers and there are others still reading fulls, you might get another offer).

TWFT: What annoys you about the perception of teen writers?

SB: That we can’t actually write and only get published because of the novelty of our age. The reality is that age is irrelevant: it’s all about your book. Don’t let the meanies get you down.

And TWFT’s official interview question – What is your favorite flavor of jelly bean?

SB: Buttered popcorn!

Now, you have to admit to the awesome.

Thanks, Steph!

TWFT

[Via http://teenswritingforteens.wordpress.com]