Imagine finishing a set and being approached by a new fan who proclaims “I don’t like bluegrass, but I love you guys.” It’s a statement that the guys of Wood & Wire have heard a few times, and while it may seem a bit confusing, it fits. Tony Kamel, Billy Bright, Trevor Smith and Don Fisher, who make up this quartet of musicians, bring forth their varied musical backgrounds to the stage, creating their own niche in the world of bluegrass. Their creative style has not gone unnoticed as their last album, North of Despair, earned them a GRAMMY nomination in 2018 for Best Bluegrass album. Building on that success, the Austin based group is set to release their second album under Blue Corn Music, No Matter Where It Goes From Here, tomorrow, August 28th.
We spoke with Tony, Billy and Trevor about their individuality and how it works in the group, the music video for their current single “Pigs” and the upcoming album.
CN: With everything that’s going on in the world in regards to COVID-19, we hope everyone in your circle is safe and healthy. How are you all holding up?
Tony Kamel: We’re very fortunate to have good support systems made up of safe and healthy people. Having a record to promote has kept us busy so that’s good. We’re holding up well, considering the situation but honestly I don’t think the hard part has hit yet. That said, it’s been nice being home with our families this summer – something we haven’t gotten to do in a while.
CN: How were each of you introduced to music? When did you realize that you wanted to pursue it as a career?
Billy Bright: I was introduced by my mom listening to the beach boys, Jimmy Buffet, Willie & Waylon. I started gigging in high school, but never thought of it as a career to pursue.
Trevor Smith: I grew up playing classical and jazz piano and by high school picked up the banjo. I started playing gigs with local bluegrass bands around my hometown (Tucson) and at bluegrass festivals around the area. I knew I wanted to pursue music as a career by that point.
Tony: I never really thought of doing it as a career until it came down to making the choice – keep my full time day job and make music a side thing or try and make it my career. Wood & Wire got busy and I couldn’t do both full time.
CN: Which musicians, country or not, have influenced you both personally and as an artist?
Trevor: Growing up I listened to a lot of bluegrass, jazz, hardcore, country, etc. Artists like Fela Kuti, John Coltrane, Converge, Botch, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Bob Wills, all of that has stuck with me. I think as a band bluegrass artists like Bill Monroe, Ralph Stanley, Jimmy Martin, and J.D. Crowe have been something we’ve always connected on and listened to in the van.
CN: How did you all meet?
Billy: I met Trevor around ‘07 when his previous band and mine were playing shows together, Tony around ‘09 when I was giving him mandolin lessons, and Dom around ‘11 when he was playing bass on a CD I was producing.
Tony: I was essentially a fan of all of these guys as individuals before I actually got to play with them. Eventually, I snuck my way into the scene.
CN: Each of you has a different background in music: there’s jazz, punk rock, hard rock… How did you all find a common ground with bluegrass?
Billy: In the approach. Bluegrass is inherently a very progressive and fluid music.
CN: Do you ever integrate those other genres into your style of bluegrass?
Billy: All the time. Everything we do is a representation of everything we have done, in some way.
Trevor: I think bluegrass was a common ground that helped bring us together as a band but we’ve always embraced each other’s unique sound which is informed by our individual influences as well as our collective influences.
Tony: It’s really our collective influences outside of bluegrass that make our sound unique.
CN: Can you take us through your songwriting process? Do you usually start with the melodies and then lyrics? Is there a specific instrument that you prefer to write with?
Billy: When I write, the song just comes into my head and then I figure it out on a guitar or mandolin.
Tony: Almost always melody first for me.
CN: Which do you do more often – write together or solo?
Billy: Solo. Writing some songs with Tony in recent years has been the first time I have ‘co-written’ since high school.
Tony: Solo as well – however doing some co-writing with Billy has been a really rewarding experience. Anything I bring to the band is open for discussion creatively.
Trevor: I don’t write much in the lyric department so I usually have a melodic idea I’ll bring to the band and either it will become an instrumental or someone else will come up with lyrics for it.
CN: In 2018 you released your album North of Despair which was nominated for a GRAMMY for Best Bluegrass Album. What did it mean to you to receive such a high accolade?
Tony: It was completely unexpected and all a bonus. We’re always thankful for anything that helps us keep doing what we do, and on our own terms.
CN: On August 28 you are releasing your album No Matter Where It Goes From Here, and you as a group co-produced the album along with Pat Manske (Robert Earl Keen, Ray Wylie Hubbard). Can you tell us a little bit about the album? Does it differ from North of Despair?
Tony: This will actually be our 4th full length studio EP. I’m proud of this record and I think it shows a different musical side of the band, though not too far off from our sound to throw people off. Billy’s writing voice comes out more on this record and that’s something I’m excited for people to hear. We used the same producer and engineer on North of Despair but experimented a little more with vintage analogue stuff (like an old fender twin, among other cool things) to give it a unique sound.
CN: In July the animated lyric video for “Pigs” was released, which featured the drawings of banjo-extraordinaire Danny Barnes. How did this project come about?
Billy: Well, we have collaborated in multitudes of ways with Danny over the years, so we were already ‘tuned in’. During the Shutdown in the Spring there was a good chunk of about 30 days where Danny was texting Tony and I these drawings every morning. Just sharing some of the stuff he was working on. Tony had the great idea of asking him to come up with drawings that Tony could animate for the lyric video for Pigs and they took it from there.
Tony: I had never animated before – definitely punched a few holes in the wall.
CN: If you could collaborate with any one artist, who would it be?
Tony: Musically, I couldn’t ask for anything more. I always had this dream of creating a cartoon though. So maybe some kind of cool animator.
CN: With the pandemic still preventing most live shows, where can fans catch you? Are you doing any live streams?
Tony: We’re still testing the waters on live streaming and our comfort level with being in each other’s company safely – however, we hope to do a live stream on September 12th for our fans.
CN: What’s next on the horizon for you?
Tony: Who knows? Hopefully we’ll play a show again one day.
No Matter Where It Goes From Here is available tomorrow, August 28. To pre-save, click here.
For more information on Wood & Wire, visit their website at www.woodandwireband.com and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.