Lead singer and guitarist Tony Kamel describes Wood & Wire as “bluegrass-ish.” He says the new album, “No Matter Where It Goes From Here,” was almost complete when the pandemic began.
“Once it became clear that no one really knew anything about this or when it was going to end or anything like that, we decided to actually push the release up earlier to give people music,” Kamel said. “We felt like during these weird times, some new music might bring a little bit of joy to people’s worlds and something they could dig into and enjoy.”
“John”
Kamel wrote “John” about a friend he grew up with in Houston.
“We’re kindred spirits in that we both have sort of abnormal careers compared to many of the people we went to high school with … so the song is about him and about his story,” Kamel said. “But it’s really a love song to all the artists out there and anyone who works in sort of an abnormal industry.”
The industry of live music is facing unprecedented challenges right now. Kamel says Wood & Wire feels very lucky considering the economic toll the pandemic has taken on so many musicians.
“And I really hope that they find a way to survive for a while,” Kamel said. “But no matter what they do, I hope that when it’s appropriate for us to get back playing shows that they can get back on that horse. And I hope we can too.”
“My Hometown”
Mandolin player Billy Bright wrote “My Hometown” about El Paso. Kamel says the song is something different than folks have heard from Wood & Wire in past albums.
“It’s got this sort of funky groove,” Kamel said. “But it felt super natural and it didn’t take long for us to come up with this arrangement.”
To celebrate the album’s release, Wood & Wire is doing a livestream on its Facebook and YouTube pages on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m.
