Woody Pines
Album: Woody Pines
Label: Muddy Roots
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.woodypines.org/

Originating from New Hampshire then learning his craft busking in New Orleans and performing in festivals as part of the group Kitchen Syncopators. Solo albums and material under the moniker Woody Pines and The Lonesome Two followed. Woody Pines has been collating influences, experiences and material on his journey and now puts them altogether in the trio of Woody Pines. Joining him as they have done on previous albums (Counting Alligators, You Gotta Roll & Rabbits Motel) are Skip Frontz Jr on upright bass and Brad Tucker on electric guitar, Resonator, kazoo and vocal harmonies. Of course as is accustomed Woody predominantly plays his guitar and harmonica.

This self titled album of eleven tunes would not look out of place in the pre Rock'n Roll era of the 1940's and early 1950's with the hillbilly boogie phase from the likes of the Delmore Brothers, Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith and even some early Bill Haley. You have only got to go back a few years to Woody's Lonesome Shack Blues album to see the start of the type of music that was being developed and how far it has come to this absorbing and captivating album.

There's enough of a distinctive blend of jazz, blues, country and swing to appease country traditional purists but sufficient contemporary cutting edge to draw in a variety of listeners.

Released under Nashville's Muddy Roots Records with Grammy winning producer Mitch Dane and mixed by Vance Powell (Jack White, Seasick Steve & Beck). The sound of Woody Pines can resemble the Old Crow Medicine Show in parts but with more of an old ragtime New Orleans jazz and blues slant. In fact Gill Landry (current member of O.C.M.S.) was a founding member of the Kitchen Syncopators and of course both groups have street entertaining backgrounds.

Starting off with 'Anything For Love' shows Woody in fine poetic form. The words always seem to roll off the tongue with a slick and suave feel. It's back to the 1970's for a jazzed up version of James Booker's 'Junco Partner' and the New Orleans flavour comes in again on 'Walking Stick'. I especially like what I interpret as a traditional Greek style intro for the latter song which suddenly reverts to the customary Pines swing beat with great bass playing from Frontz Jr who along with Tucker compliment Woody fantastically on the album from start to finish.

Delta bound is a bluesy number with Woody reminiscing of where he's been "I've been a rover, now that's over, I'm tired of roamin', that's why I'm homin'" and to where he lays his hat in Delta, Ohio.

The standout track has to be 'This Train Rolls By' with echoes of the life of someone like Jimmie Rodgers or probably more likely the hobo lifestyle of Woody Guthrie and references to the railroad history of America. In this instance though Woody Pines is retelling a story about where he lived and if he could hear or see the smoke of the train then it's usually an indication that bad weather is imminent.

'New Nashville Boogie' is as close to a modern hillbilly boogie sound we can get. A short song that would certainly get you on the dancehall floors of years gone by. Woody has got such a quirky swagger that appears in every song and he oozes with similar swing flair to that of Michale Buble.

There are two classics brought to life in the Pines signature way the first being Memphis Minnie's 'Black Rat Swing' done in an intoxicating rhythmic and toe tapping way. The other being the Mississippi Sheiks 'Bootleggers Blues' renamed 'Make It To The Woods'. Here Woody sings and rhymes old-timey lyrics like "I'm gonna get me a sack of flour, I'm gonna comb it up every hour, I keep my skillet good and greasy, all the time" which could easily be taken from an old Uncle Dave Macon tune from the 1920's.

Woody's harmonica playing is wonderful and certainly adds a Bob Dylan feel to a lot of the songs especially in 'Over The Water' and 'This Train Rolls By' where there's certainly touches of DeFord Bailey's 'Pan American Blues'.

'Worth The Game' is a final masterpiece that finds Woody in a sombre reflective mood saying "life's a gamble" that "lifts us up and breaks us down". The lyrics are cleverly brought together by using descriptions from a pack of playing cards suggesting that life is pretty much a game of good or bad fortune.

There are so many delicious styles coming through on this collection but at the same time it all seems to come together as one. The fantastic musicianship, the nostalgic and retro sounds and the effortless delivery of the catchy poetic lyrics is unmistakably that of Woody Pines.

Craig Parry