Aaron Woody Wood @ The One Stop – Dec. 13th
Bar/Kitchen: 5pm, Show: 6-8pm // Suggested $5 Donation @ The Door // 21+
Aaron Woody Wood’s story is one steeped in music and tradition. Woody is straight up Appalachian Soul music. Carved from a piece of the NC foothills Rock and then Rolled through the Mississippi Delta mud, he’s a cosmic cowboy who represents the power, soul and energy of American music.
Beginning all the way back in Love Valley in the Piedmont foothills of North Carolina where the famous Fiddler’s Grove was held, Woody was brought up in a family full of musicians and musical talent. As long as he could remember there was music surrounding his life. Woody’s Father, AL Wood, was an important figure in Contemporary Bluegrass Music throughout the 60’s and 70’s helping define that genre of music alongside bands like ‘Seldom Scene’ and ‘Country Gentlemen’. AL Wood was well respected for his songwriting, tenor singing, and banjo playing putting out records when Bluegrass was just beginning to get popular. Playing at the Grand Ole Opry 3 times and performing at the White House were among some of the great achievements of AL Wood’s career. Woody’s Mom influenced him through continually encouraging him to listen to her collection of rock n roll records turning him on to artists like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Rockabilly music.
Being the youngest of 5 kids, all of whom played instruments or sang, Woody was around music and tradition from a very young and formative time in his life. His first memory of being on stage was at the young age of 6 where he played a tiny banjo his Dad had made for him. He played and sang next to his Dad and Bill Monroe that day. Between the old time bluegrass his Father and brothers played and The Piedmont Blues that he was drawn to in his teenage years, his musical styles and influences were taking shape through his guitar playing and songwriting.
At 20, Aaron Woody Wood moved to the Asheville, NC mountains and soon began busking on the downtown streets with what would end up becoming the members of the Rag n Roll swing style Ragtime music of The Blue Rags, and would be the start of Woody’s musical career as an artist. When Woody was 23 the band was signed to Sub Pop Records and began touring, eventually recording 2 CD’s and playing in 47 states across the country and abroad over the following 5 years before disbanding. Along the tours they opened up for some of the greatest like Alabama, Leon Russell, Southern Culture on the Skids, Santana, Pavement, and Ziggy Marley in places like The Oregon Country Fair, High Sierra Fest, City Stages in Birmingham, and SummerFest in Milwaukee. These years taught Woody about the music business, opened up the avenues of writing and recording songs, and what it takes to be a musician on the road. Woody was featured in Acoustic Guitar Player Magazine in April of 1998 for the work that was being released during these years.
Over the next 10 years Aaron Woody Wood had many successes as a solo artist and began various bands in Asheville like the Sufi Brothers, Custard Pie, and Hollywood Red, which opened up for Mountain and Kenny Wayne Shepard. In 2006 he was featured on the CMT television show Big Break where he beat out over 400 local Asheville musicians to open for Country Superstar Sara Evans, and the show aired numerous times on the network.
New Orleans has always been like a second home to Woody. While spending time in The Big Easy, he recorded 2 albums and performed regularly with the Blue Brass Project, a blend of traditional New Orleans jazz and bluegrass music. The Blue Brass sessions features Big Chief Monk Boudreaux , Woody, members of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Rebirth Brass Band, Larry Keel, and Trombone Shorty. Woody also performed in New Orleans at Voodoo Fest and JazzFest in 2011 and 2012 with the Mardi Gras Indian funk band, the 101 Runners.
In 2011, Woody hired a Nashville producer and released an 11 song demo – resulting in Nashville recording sessions doing studio work as well as several spots that year at Bonnaroo. Most recently he has opened up for Brad Paisley, Buddy Guy, Jamey Johnson, Kellie Pickler, and Tony Joe White. Today he is continuing his focus on songwriting and fresh styles of guitar picking while collaborating on new creative projects.
His newest release was recorded at Fleetwood Shack Studios in Nashville Tennessee where he joined some of his bandmates from The Blue Rags. “Sunshine” features Woody on guitar and vocals,Bill Reynolds produced and played bass and Mike Rhodes played drums.It also features Micky Rapheal on harmonics and was mastered by Rob Frabone.
Woody is always continuing his focus on songwriting and fresh styles of guitar picking while collaborating on new creative projects.
