Before a Burlington Show, the Wood Brothers Get Back to Basics 

The Wood Brothers have always been about fusion. When Chris and Oliver Wood formed the band in 2004, both were established musicians — Oliver with the blues-rock act King Johnson, and Chris as a jazz bassist and one-third of the group Medeski Martin & Wood. With a molecular biologist for a father and a poet for a mother, the brothers were comfortable crossing disciplines. They set about exploring the intersection of jazz, blues and roots music.

Along with the third member of the group, multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix, the Wood Brothers went on to release eight studio albums and earn a reputation as highly skilled live performers. So when it came time to record its latest LP, Heart Is the Hero, it made sense for the band to try to re-create that live chemistry in the studio.

"The secret, we found, was to limit ourselves," Oliver Wood told Seven Days ahead of the Wood Brothers' show this Friday, October 27, at the Flynn Main Stage in Burlington. "Onstage, it's a lot of work to stay focused and be present, but it's the secret to sounding great. Be present. In the moment. And we needed to bring that mentality to the studio."

The group did that by forgoing modern, digital recording techniques and going old-school, recording the whole album on analog tape. The bandmates removed the possibility of using a computer to fix errors or combine tracks.
"When you're recording digital, it's always in the back of your mind that if you make a mistake, you can just fix it afterwards," Wood said. "And that is always in your mind, even if it's just subconsciously."

By going analog and removing that fallback, the band had to be ready and engaged for tracking, playing with the kind of "don't mess up" mentality that its members channel onstage.

"Also, there aren't screens everywhere when you record to tape," Wood pointed out. "It's you and your band and what you're playing. When it's over, you go and listen to it in a room and hope you nailed it. There's a romance to that, to trusting your heart — which is also what the new album is really about."

Wood describes Heart Is the Hero as something of a statement of philosophy from the band.

"We all hold that as musicians, you have to remain present," Wood said. "What we're saying on this record is that we should all strive to do that in life, as well. You can't be obsessed with control, and we really wanted to embody that on this record."
The record was written and recorded by two brothers now living in different countries — yet another limitation for band to overcome. Chris lives in British Columbia, Canada, while Oliver and Nix are based in Nashville, Tenn. Tracking for Heart Is the Hero had to happen in quick installments when Chris was in Nashville.

"It made us both have our act together in the studio and keep open minds," Oliver Wood said. "We knew we had to take advantage of the time when Chris was in town. So we were prepared, but we were also all open to change, and I think you can hear that on the record. We try some new things. We pull on our sound a bit."

It all made for an experiment successful enough that Wood feels certain the next album will be recorded analog, as well.

"Making records should be fun, like being a kid in a clubhouse," he said. "That's how this one felt."