Feature photo: Joshua Black Wilkins
Oliver Wood has long been able to do it all, and do it all well as a singer, songwriter, guitar player and producer. But one thing he hadn’t done yet is make a record on his own. The front man of the widely lauded roots-rock act the Wood Brothers is finally fixin’ to remedy that: on May 21, 2021 will come forth his debut solo record Always Smilin’ (Honey Jar/Thirty Tigers).
The lockdown has produced a bumper crop of fresh, original tunes from Wood, and the solo project serves as a fine vehicle for getting some of them out. He also uses this occasion to get together with friends both old and new, such as Susan Tedeschi, John Medeski, Tyler Greenwell, Phil Madeira and fellow King Johnson co-founder Chris Long, among others.
“Fine Line” (video above) is the first nugget we’re getting from Always Smilin’, and like the title of this upcoming album, “Fine Line” is a smiling song. Singing about the minute differences between “love and lust,” “truth and trust” and “dreams and dust,” Wood again waxes philosophical in his usual relatable, down-home manner. It’s a bonus to have Medeski on hand here to provide a rascally organ aside that sounds very much like him.
Almost nobody is going to be able to distinguish this from a Wood Brothers song unless maybe they’re listening real closely to the bass track but, really, who cares? The Wood Brothers is a great to sound like and since Oliver Wood is the primary voice of The Bros, it’s going to be impossible to fully escape that comparison. I suspect that Always Smilin’ is going to absolutely delight Wood Brothers fans, and in the same way.
In the meantime, you can stream “Fine Line” now from here.
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