In 2018, the four piece group Wood & Wire was nominated for a Grammy award for their album North of Despair. Since their four members had come up playing styles like jazz and punk rock, of course they would find themselves in a band on the verge of winning nationwide recognition as a bluegrass band -- from that hotbed of the genre, Austin Texas no less. Somehow, two plus two equals five with Wood & Wire, and here they are, carving out a niche that seems as unlikely as it is fortunate.

In this episode, singer and guitarist Tony Kamel and mandolin player Billy Bright talk about updating and spinning the old murder ballad “Darlin’ Corey” into their song “Pigs”, bringing in Peter Rowan for a tune, how growing up in Houston did not feel like growing up in the South at all, and how growing up in El Paso could easily be thought of as growing up somewhere not at all in Texas. That is just part of what they have to say, and of course, we feature some music from the band’s fourth studio album No Matter Where It Goes from Here.

Wood & Wire album cover for No Matter Where It Goes From Here — Wood & Wire album cover for *No Matter Where It Goes From Here*

Thanks for dropping by Southern Songs and Stories, and I hope you might tell a friend about this endeavor. You can subscribe to this series on your podcast platform of choice, and it helps even more when you give it a good rating and a review. Great ratings, and reviews especially, will make Southern Songs and Stories and the artists it profiles more visible to more people just like you. Southern Songs and Stories is a part of the podcast lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes of this podcast on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks to Sean Rubin for the audio of my call with Tony and Billy, and to Corrie Askew for producing the radio adaptations of this series on public radio WNCW. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick

Songs heard in this episode:

“Clamp’s Chute” by Wood & Wire from No Matter Where It Goes From Here, excerpt

“Pigs” by Wood & Wire from No Matter Where It Goes From Here, excerpt

“Roadie’s Circles” by Wood & Wire from No Matter Where It Goes From Here, excerpt

[“My Hometown” by Wood & Wire from No Matter Where It Goes From Here]

Artist stereotypes do not apply

How many times have parents cringed when their children fell in love with a musician? Let's be honest, the world has looked askance at artists of all stripes (with notable exceptions) for most of our history. Musicians tend to be thought of as people who may be great at their art but who are nonetheless pretty bad at life skills like paying bills, getting to work on time, and sticking with the missus.

Aaron turns all those stereotypes on their head; he is not only a fantastic songwriter and musician, but he also runs his own construction business and is a devoted family man living a stone's throw from where he grew up in the western NC mountains. He is as meticulous and intense about his guitar and ballads as he is about his green built homes and raising his two girls.

As you'll see in our pilot episode, Aaron does both life and art exceptionally well. The folks around him are a big part of that.