David Wood - Here & Now
Review by:
George Peden, CSO Staff Journalist
11/07/2010
Talk
to most fans and the pulling power of country music is its
honesty. Country music is homegrown real. There are stories,
often life driven and open in the lyrics. A life lived and
revealed can sometimes rest in the liner notes. David Wood’s
liner to Here & Now is a point in question.
David Woods, by his
own admission, is “north of 65”. He holds no need to fill
arenas on global sell out tours, or to see his face beaming
out of CMT, and, given his brand of traditional country, he
could be waiting a while for a Billboard hit.
But what the matter.
Reading his liner
notes, you quickly suspect he does not crave the fame; he
just wants to make the music. And that he does on his
11-track debut, out on DeW Note Records. Armed with an array
of tunes that ride the familiar track of heartache, love,
loss and redemption this proclaimed “country and western”
devotee is sure to win fans who are more Gene Autry than
Toby Keith.
“This album is undeniably a frontal attack on
the current trends of rock-country and pop-country. This is
not your kid’s country music,” tells Wood, who has penned
the emotive “You are My Love (A Wedding Song) for this
album. “It refects my age and my experiences in life.”
As a former lawyer
to music acts, Woods favors the outlaws like Cash, Jennings
and Haggard for inspiration, and, like his heroes, there is
an obvious determination to be free from the shackles of
perceived age.
As Wood’s shares, it
was only when he bought veteran rocker Jerry Lee Lewis’
Last Man Standing DVD he knew his future direction. “If
I was ever going to play piano and sing, why not here and
now,” – the confident move also gave rise to a needed album
title.
With his newfound
catch-cry of “who says 65 is mandatory retirement”, on
hearing the album you are left with admiration for someone
who finally is living his dream.
Country music is
real. The music is real and telling. Just like David Wood.
“Sayin’ Goodbye To The West”, “I Ain’t Worth
The Powder (To Blow Me To Hell Without You)”, the moody “I
Wish I Had Someone To Love Me” and the autobiographical “Old
Enough To Be Somebody’s Hero” are sure to please.
www.davidwoodcountry.com
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