This week, Chris Wood heads out on tour, starting in Sheffield (sold out) and ending in London at Kings Place. You should definitely try and pick up one of these dates, the last time we featured Chris on these pages was actually a live review, back in 2018 at the Cambridge Junction courtesy of Danny Neill. It was quite a moving read and made me wish I’d been there to have witnessed the show. Here’s a snippet:
It can be strange sometimes how some of the best singer-songwriters are so eager to play the work of other writers rather than exclusively sing their own compositions. From the moment he walks onstage tonight, casually discarding his coat on the floor, esteemed British tunesmith Chris Wood is chatty and giving off the air of someone who’s just stood up to play a bit of impromptu music for friends in his living room. He ponders on his capacity to be a one-man Burt Bacharach tribute act, then proceeds to play a set that showcases some wonderful songs from his catalogue, regularly punctuated by the music of others.
The selections are far from random. Chris is open to admitting that certain songs just speak to him, inspiring the desire to get inside them. ‘The Wild Wild Berry’, a folk tune with numerous interpretations to its name is one such example; here credit goes to a John Kirkpatrick recording as his route in. But then he follows this deep, brooding ballad about a poisoning with a new song of his own about an old sofa. And the peculiar thing is that both pieces carry the same emotional punch. Just consider for a moment how parting company with an item of home furnishing that has been around for decades can affect you. Something that has been a part of numerous domestic moments of great significance. Suddenly you’re gouging at the raw fibres of life. Chris is the kind of chap who thinks about this stuff a lot; that sofa had seen children grow up, witnessed birthdays, endured Christmases and family fallouts. Maybe people who are no longer around had spent time on it? And Chris himself had ended many a Saturday evening alone with it nodding off to ‘Match Of The Day’ on TV. I related to it a bit too much probably, speaking as someone who has worn the same hat for over 20 years; I too have placed disproportionate significance on an everyday object.
The tiny details are where Chris Wood finds penetrative depths. He knows it too, recalling how an art school principal told him he has “a remarkable eye for trivia” and confessing to simply thinking, “yes, I’ll take that”. His dilemma is that a modern topical songwriter has a plentiful supply of current issues to get his teeth into, but are today’s audiences sick of hearing about Brexit and Trump? Well, if anyone can get around that today it is surely the man seducing us with song tonight. He just sings of the everyday world, then slides politics under the door in tunes such as one inspired by “an old allotment neighbour who, like a great many people who voted to leave, he’s now dead”. Read more.
And, in case you missed it, here is Chris Wood’s Lockdown Set (Originally recorded for the Folk on Foot Front Room Festival 2)
Recommended Listening:
On BBC Radio 3 (14 Jul 2020) – Folk at Home – From her garage studio in Wiltshire, Verity Sharp is dialling up musicians who are rooted in global traditions, exercising their home-recording skills, and asking them to share songs that reflect how they are feeling. In this episode, Chris Wood finds solace in the poetry of John Clare and is inspired by the family sofa. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000jgm7
Chris Wood Tour Dates
Fri, NOV 12
SOLD OUT
Sheffield, United Kingdom
Sat, NOV 13
Guildhall Arts Centre
Grantham, United Kingdom
Sun, NOV 14
Kitchen Garden Cafe
Birmingham, United Kingdom
Thu, NOV 18
Cornerstone Arts Centre
Didcot, United Kingdom
Fri, NOV 19
The Coliseum Centre
Whitby, United Kingdom
Sat, NOV 20
Old Cinema Launderette & Bar
Durham, United Kingdom
Wed, NOV 24
The Quay
Sudbury, United Kingdom
Thu, NOV 25
Trades Club
Hebden Bridge, United Kingdom
Fri, NOV 26
Waterside Arts Centre
Sale, United Kingdom
Sat, NOV 27
Bristol Folk House
Bristol, United Kingdom
Wed, DEC 1
Exeter Phoenix
Exeter, United Kingdom
Fri, DEC 3
Kings Place
London, United Kingdom
Tickets via http://chriswoodmusic.co.uk/