The Wood Brothers at Arrowood Farms

Photo: Anthony Mulcahy ©Mulography, 2024 (@mulographynyc)

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“This is the best smelling concert we’ve ever had,” Oliver Wood, the effortlessly charismatic lead singer and guitarist of the Wood Brothers, told a crowd of grateful and enthusiastic fans in Accord, New York, referring to the popcorn vendor at Arrowood Farms, where he, his brother, bassist and singer Chris Wood, and multi-instrumentalist and singer Jano Rix treated the all-ages crowd to an evening of dynamic acoustic and electric folk/jazz/blues/rock music that spanned their entire career and was uniquely “their” music. (“All ages” means just that: There were as many retirees in the audience as there were small children sitting on the shoulders of their young parents.)

The brothers have been making music together since childhood and have been releasing albums under the family name for nearly twenty years, with Rix completing the trio for more than half of that time. Before forming the group as a duo, Oliver performed with King Johnson, a blues-rock band from Atlanta, and has since released two solo albums, including the June 2024 Fat cat silhouette. Since the early 1990s, Chris has been well known and widely respected as the bassist for the innovative avant-garde jazz trio Medeski Martin & Wood. Since the Brothers’ formation, he has been equally, if not more, known for his folk-rock sensibility, spot-on backing vocals and dazzling dance moves. And Rix brings a seemingly bottomless bag of tricks, including a drum kit, keyboard, melodica and “shuitar,” all of which he plays tastefully and to great effect while providing backing vocals for the group. (It’s not clear if he has a third arm, but that would explain how he manages to play more than one of those instruments at once.)

The folk duo The Bygones opened the show with beautiful vocal harmonies, both A cappella and over a variety of string instruments and loving covers of Dolly Parton’s “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind?” The Lone Bellow followed, bringing their hootenanny show to the crowd, who sang along to “Green Eyes and a Heart of Gold,” “Honey” and “Cost of Living,” which singer Kanene Pipkin dedicated to the local real estate market. They also presented their three-way harmony version of Dolly Parton and chose their famous duet with Kenny Rogers, “Islands In the Stream.” “This part of the country is like home to us,” said guitarist and singer Zach Williams shared after the show, noting that they recorded at Long Pond Studios, owned by Aaron Dessner of The National.

The crowd was ready when the Wood Brothers took the stage just after 7:30 p.m. Chris, dressed in a suit jacket and red shoes, began the evening on double bass, alternating between that and his Höfner bass throughout the evening. Rix started on drums while Oliver led the trio through “River Takes the Town” from their 2018 studio album. A drop of truth. “What a beautiful night. Aren’t we all lucky?” Oliver asked the crowd as he played a set of songs from their 2006 debut studio album. Ways not to loseincluding the rollicking “Tried and Tempted” and the bouncy, rocking “Happiness Jones.” Chris began the next song, “Heartbreak Lullaby,” playing his upright bass with a bow while Rix, who occupies the musical equivalent of the “triple threat position” in basketball, played a melodica lead before switching back to the drums and driving the emotional contours of the performance. A child in the audience enhanced the experience with a battery-operated bubble machine while the band played “Atlas,” which some may recognize as a Goose cover.

The highlight of the evening then came when Oliver invited for the first time (surprisingly!) Lone Bellow to join the group around a single microphone to provide six-part harmonies on the performance of “Up Above My Head.” Oliver, who has played at Arrowood Farms before, encouraged the crowd to listen to the frogs, reflecting the mindfulness he has honed through years of meditation practice. After closing the set with “Honey Jar” from their 2013 studio album, The museThe band returned for an encore, playing “Luckiest Man” and closing the show with a cover of The Band’s “Ophelia,” a regular cover they released on wax in 2017. Live in the barnrecorded in the nearby Helm family recording studio and event venue.

The evening was magical, thanks in no small part to the friendly staff, the kind of people who lend strangers iPhone chargers—thanks, Omar!—and involve them in an impromptu birthday celebration—happy 25th, Molly! Both the band and the venue offer the perfect opportunities to enjoy a dynamic musical performance the likes of which no AI could ever replicate.