WUIS Bedrock 66 Live! welcomes 2019 Grammy nominee Wood and Wire to Bar None, 245 S. 5th St. Springfield, Saturday, August 3 at 8 pm. Joining Wood and Wire will be the Dahlgren Boys. Tickets may be purchased in advancehere or at the door.
Wood and Wire mix the Texas songwriter traditions of their native state with the traditions of bluegrass instrumentation. Respect for honest labor is a central theme in Wood & Wire’s 2019 GRAMMY Nominated album for “Best Bluegrass”, North of Despair ( Blue Corn Music), with songs populated by people like songwriter Tony Kamel’s own grandfather, who built the family’s hunting lodge in Llano, Texas with his own two hands.
We spoke to vocalist, songwriter Tony Kamel about the origins of the band's sound, joining bluegrass stalwarts Special Consenesus and the Travelin' McCourys as Grammy nominees and the experience of attending the 2019 Grammy Awards.
The characters on North of Despair live large, and aren’t afraid to share their opinions about the modern world. This kind of vivid, haunting songwriting focused on lives spent deep in the countryside is a hallmark of Texas songwriting. But it’s the melding of this hard country songwriting with high-octane bluegrass instrumentation that makes for Wood & Wire’s signature sound. Artists like John Hartford have trod this ground before, mixing up great songs, bluegrass virtuosity, and a strong sense of place, and Wood & Wire aim to pave the way for Austin’s roots scene, bursting out of the giant expanses of the state with a fully-fledged vision for a new Texan sound. On North of Despair, they bring the ferocity of their live shows to the studio, whipping through barn-burning anthems about hard people in hard times.
Learn more about the band at http://www.woodandwireband.com/ and upcoming Bedrock 66 Live! shows at www.bedrock66.com.
