THE WOOD BROTHERS
Heart is the Hero
The Wood Brothers have learned to trust their hearts. For the better part of two decades, they've cemented their reputation as freethinking songwriters, road warriors, and community builders, creating a catalog of diverse music and a loyal audience who’ve grown alongside them through the years. That evolution continues with Heart is the Hero, the band's eighth studio album. Recorded analog to 16-track tape, this latest effort finds its three creators embracing the chemistry of their acclaimed live shows by capturing their performances in real-time direct from the studio floor with nary a computer in sight. An acoustic-driven album that electrifies, Heart is the Hero is
stocked with songs that target not only the heart, but the head and hips, too.
"We love records that come from the era of less tracks and more care," explains co-founder Oliver Wood. "When you use a computer during the tracking process, you have an infinite number of tracks at your disposal, which implies that nothing is permanent, and everything can be fixed. Tape gives you limitations that force you to be creative and intentional. You don't look at the music on a screen; you listen to it, and you learn to focus on the feeling of the performance."
The Wood Brothers have partnered with American Friends of Canadian Conservation so that $1 per ticket will support The Nature Trust of British Columbia (NTBC) in their efforts to conserve ecologically-rich wetlands and protect irreplaceable land from development. Every $1 donated will be matched by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with $2 so more endangered wetlands can be saved. If you’d like to learn more, please visit this link.
MASON VIA
Mason Via’s new single, “Wide Open.” Co-written by Mason Via and Zach John King , this track paints vivid pictures of campfires, screen doors, and sunsets over pastures, while also capturing the essence of young heartbreak. Raised in Patrick Springs, VA, Mason drew on his childhood experiences growing up in the hills, hollers, and backwoods of southern Virginia to inspire this incredible new song. Via says, “The song chronicles the singer’s emotional state as he reaches back into his memory to recall how much he loved the girl who has left him, and how much her absence has cut him to the core.” This song evokes a similiar emotion that Mason conveyed in Daughter of the Highlands (his stand out vocal on the Grammy nominated album Jubilee.) The track features Mason Via on lead vocals and guitar; Aaron Ramsey on mandolin; Jason Davis on banjo; Jim Vancleve on fiddle; Jeff Partin on bass and resophonic guitar; Kyser George on second guitar; Brooks Forsyth on harmony vocals; and Nick Goad on harmony vocals. This track sounds like Old Crow Medicine Show, Tyler Childers , Zach Bryan, Flatland Cavalry, Turnpike Troubadours, and Mountain Heart.