Classic Replay with Chris Wood from The Wood Brothers

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Takin' a Walk – Classic Replay with Chris Wood (The Wood Brothers)

Host: Buzz Knight (iHeartPodcasts)
Guest: Chris Wood
Air Date: August 24, 2025
Episode Theme: Americana Roots Music, The Creative Process, and the Art of Imperfection

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Episode Overview

In this deep-dive episode, Buzz Knight is joined by Chris Wood, co-founder of The Wood Brothers and a Grammy-nominated figure in Americana roots music. The conversation journeys through Chris's musical upbringing, the crucial influence of his mentors, the unique creative process of The Wood Brothers (especially on their latest album "Heart is the Hero"), and broader themes such as mindfulness, the healing power of music, and the importance of imperfection in recorded music.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Art of Pushing the Musical "Envelope"

• Mentorship and Early Influences (04:46–08:42):
  • Chris attributes his experimental spirit to early mentors in Boulder/Denver and later at the New England Conservatory.
    • Quote:
      “I feel like in my own tiny little bit way, I’m like a Malcolm Gladwell 10,000 Hours story ... I lucked out with some great mentors early on.” (06:47 – Chris Wood)
    • The experience of being guided through jazz and avant-garde music deeply shaped the Wood Brothers’ sound.
    • Encouragement to improvise was key:

      “As did most of my lessons with all those people, we have an hour for a lesson, Improvise, go. And so it was just this constant pushing and encouragement to explore ... while at the same time learning the history of music.” (07:52 – Chris Wood)

  • His time with Medeski, Martin & Wood emphasized improvisation and independent thinking.
    • Quote:
      “We never knew what we were going to do. We always knew what we were not going to do.” (08:25 – Chris Wood)

2. Musical Diversity & Early Career Experiences

• Boston, New York, and Gigs Abroad (09:14–11:20):
  • Chris’s formal schooling quickly gave way to real-world playing. A fateful tour in Israel and a quick move to New York City in the early 1990s launched his lifelong immersion in live music culture.
    • Memorable moment: Playing in Israel during major geopolitical tensions left a lasting impact.
  • The Boston scene’s diversity influenced his appreciation for musical cross-pollination.

3. The Power & Influence of Live Performance

• Formative Concert Experiences (11:46–14:12):
  • Iconic shows in early-90s NYC shaped Chris’s musical vision.
    • Seeing Cuban bass legend Cachao at SOB’s and Larry Graham’s funk at Tramps were major highlights.

      “He’s the kind of musician that attracts musicians ... I felt like I was in, like, a church service, you know. Incredible.” (13:24 – Chris Wood)

4. Roots and Family Ties

• Influence of Family, Especially His Father (14:22–16:10):
  • His father was a molecular biologist, but also a folk musician who played and sang at home.
    • Quote:
      “I would say that is the earliest influence, seeing ... someone who can really play the guitar and sing a song. And that always stuck with me.” (15:22 – Chris Wood)
  • Starting The Wood Brothers felt like “coming full circle”—connecting back to early folk roots.

5. Inside ‘Heart is the Hero’: Songwriting & Recording

• Organic Song Development (16:28–22:22):
  • Songs often start from scattered seeds—sometimes lyrics, sometimes musical ideas from different band members.
  • "Creating and throwing away" is part of the Wood Brothers’ process for distilling authenticity and uniqueness.
  • Recording Process: Entirely analog, no screens—deliberately recorded to tape without using computers.
    • Quote:
      “What we didn’t realize is how profound that is … when you don’t use a computer … you just pay attention to your present moment and your environment immediately around you…” (18:26 – Chris Wood)
  • The analog process demanded decisions based on feeling—not visual “waveforms”—and forced the band to accept imperfections as an asset.

6. The Value of Imperfection in Music

• Philosophy on ‘Perfect’ Music (22:39–24:25):
  • Chris discusses how modern tools allow over-editing, which can sap music of its humanity.
    • Quote:
      “With all the computer editing … you tend to eventually massage out of the music all of the personality.” (23:29 – Chris Wood)
  • The analog process helped the band trust their gut and keep the ‘rough edges’ that make music memorable.

7. Mindfulness, Vulnerability, and Performance

• Themes of Presence in the Album (28:09–34:01):
  • Mindfulness and savoring the moment are running ideas through "Heart is the Hero".
    • Songs like “Pilgrim” and “Rolling On” are rooted in the challenge of being present amid chaos.
  • Accepting lack of control and being vulnerable makes for the most moving performances.
    • Quote:
      “You’re too in control and it lacks vulnerability and it lacks humanity. You’ve perfected something ... that formula is never as interesting as that vulnerable first take when you actually didn’t know what was happening.” (30:36 – Chris Wood)
  • The lyric “Remember to remember” is a reminder to stay present.

8. Music as Healing

• The Healing Power of Music (34:19–36:41):
  • Music instantly affects one’s mindset, much like great art or nature.
  • Playing music is a path to healing—it demands relinquishing self-consciousness and simply being present.
    • Quote:
      “Just paying attention and trusting that if you simply pay attention, you’ll know what to do, your environment will tell you what to do.” (36:32 – Chris Wood)

9. Farming and Creativity

• How Farming Fuels Songwriting (36:41–38:59):
  • Farming provides meditative, labor-intensive solitude—ideal for creative breakthroughs.
    • Quote:
      “It takes me away from my instrument … farming is a lot of heavy labor and repetitive … it’s a great time for a song to … let a song just keep looping in a pleasant way.” (36:46 – Chris Wood)
  • Hard work and distance from the instrument provide inspiration, energy, and prevent burnout—linking with the tradition of roots musicians.

10. The Collaborative Future & Infinite Possibility

• The Joy of Not Being in Control (39:10–42:53):
  • Music’s infinite possibilities keep things fresh.
    • Quote:
      “Nobody has ever figured it out. No one’s ever gonna figure it out. It’s … one of those endless games.” (39:11 – Chris Wood)
  • The chemistry and trust within The Wood Brothers safeguard against creative ruts.
    • Observation: Chris notes that the social aspect of creating music together leads to outcomes no solo artist could achieve alone, contrasting this with today’s trend toward multi-tasking, all-in-one creative roles.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On mentors and pushing boundaries:
  “We always knew what we were not going to do.” (08:25 – Chris Wood)

• On recording to tape:
  “What we didn’t realize is how profound that is ... when you don’t use a computer ... you just pay attention to your present moment and your environment immediately around you …” (18:26 – Chris Wood)

• On imperfection:
  “Imperfections … become your favorite part of the song. You know, it’s the most human part.” (22:42 – Chris Wood)

• On presence:
  “So much of the best music happens when we kind of don’t even realize it, because really all you’re doing in that moment is listening, not to yourself, but to the other people in the band.” (33:10 – Chris Wood)

• On healing:
  “When Bob Marley said it all with ... once the music hits, you feel all right, right? That’s true.” (34:24 – Chris Wood)

• On farming and creativity:
  “I think all this work and being away from my instrument then creates a hunger. And there’s never a chance I’m ever going to be burnt out.” (38:20 – Chris Wood)

• On the future:
  “Nobody has ever figured it out. No one’s ever gonna figure it out.... The process ... means that it’s never going to get boring. There’s endless ideas. There’s endless new combinations.” (39:11–39:32 – Chris Wood)

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Highlights & Memorable Moments

• Chris’s lighthearted questioning:
  “Should I be walking right now, by the way? I feel like I should be taking a walk, literally. But maybe that's just a metaphor.” (04:29 – Chris Wood)

• The “Remember to remember” lyric—a key refrain on the album—serves as both a life lesson and creative mantra.

• Chris’s heartfelt reflections on the beauty and challenges of true collaboration versus modern solo multi-tasking.

• The recurring theme: the most magical moments come when you relinquish control, trust in the process, and focus fully on the here and now.

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Recommended Listening

• Songs Referenced:
  • "Pilgrim"
  • "Rolling On"
  • "Those Pockets"
  • General reference to “Heart is the Hero” album

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Final Thoughts

This episode provides an intimate glimpse into Chris Wood’s philosophy and artistic journey—from his jazz and folk roots to the Wood Brothers’ mindful approach to songwriting, performance, and living. It’s an essential listen for anyone interested in the intersection of artistry, vulnerability, and the healing power of music.

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Transcript

[Chris Wood]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Buzz Knight]

This episode of Taking a Walk is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve. Whether I'm booking my next vacation or going to a concert, Chase Sapphire Reserve is my gateway to the world's most captivating destinations. When I use my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, I get eight times points on all the purchases I make through Chase Travel and even access to one of a kind experiences like music festivals and and sports events. And that's not even mentioning how the card gets me into the Sapphire Lounge by the club at select airports nationwide. No matter where I'm walking, travel is more rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve. Discover [e-mail] Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank NA member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply.

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[Today Show Announcer]

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[Chris Wood]

Ah, come on.

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[Chris Wood]

This thing is ancient.

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[Chris Wood]

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[Chris Wood]

Good Morning. Welcome to Today.

[Today Show Announcer]

From back to school to tackling your to do list, the Today show is your best start to the day. It's a new season and every morning we're here to Help you take it all along. As the forecast calls for football all across the country, blockbuster stars, live concerts, and so much more. Wake up to where it's all happening.

[Commercial Voice]

We're getting back to all of it.

[Chris Wood]

And the best way to start is together.

[Today Show Announcer]

Watch the Today show show Weekday mornings at 7am on NBC. Taking a walk.

[Chris Wood]

I've had shows that I thought were a disaster and people loved it. Or, or maybe I even heard a recording of it. It's like, oh my God. So interesting. Like that was unusual and beautiful, something about it. But I felt terrible on stage. I felt insecure or the opposite. Where, and this happens a lot where in recording too, in the studio, where you get that feeling like I just never nailed it. That was perfect. I played the crap out of that song. That's usually not the best take.

[Buzz Knight]

I'm Buzz Knight and welcome to the Taking a Walk podcast. The podcast where we delve into the stories behind the music with musicians of all type talking about their influences, their creative processes and their passions. Today on this episode, we welcome Chris Wood from the Grammy nominated leaders of Americana roots music, the Wood Brothers. They're hitting the road. They've released their eighth studio album, Heart is the Hero, which is outstanding. Once again, here's Chris Wood on Taking a Walk.

[Buzz Knight (Interviewer)]

Thanks, Chris, for being on Taking a Walk. I want to ask you who instilled in you the notion of pushing the envelope, which is so much a signature of you and the Wood Brothers who instilled it?

[Chris Wood]

Should I be walking right now, by the way? I feel like I should be taking a walk, literally. But maybe that's just a metaphor.

[Buzz Knight (Interviewer)]

It could be both. So you can stay in, put, you can saunter, but as long as I've got you on a good quality space, I'll take it and grab it.

[Chris Wood]

Okay. Pushing the envelope, I guess when I started. Well, the first thing I did early on when I was a kid is, you know, I was really lucky to have some amazing mentors, base, professional base teachers in the Boulder, Denver area where I was growing up. First guy I studied with was kind of a young hotshot in the Boulder, Denver area and he pushed me into all kinds of things. Like out of my, you know, I was ninth grade, so I was into. My brother and I were into 60s rock and roll and all kinds of things. But he definitely pushed me into more adventurous jazz music listening. He I remember him giving me a cassette tape. One side was Stan Getz, the other side was Thelonious Monk. At first I gravitated towards the Stan Getz and the more I listened to both sides, the more and more I gravitated towards Thelonious Monk because it just, you know, took me a minute. But once I once, once I got a taste for it and I was like, oh, this is really cool. Stan Getz was nice, but Malone is Monk. So I'd say he. I attribute maybe the beginnings of that pushing the envelope to him. In high school, I was really lucky to have again a professional, local working bass player as the head of the jazz band that I was a part of. So I feel like in my own tiny little bit way, I'm like a Malcolm Gladwell 10,000 Hours story. Like where I. I lucked out with some great mentors early on. Then I went to the New England Conservatory in Boston and I studied with Dave Holland. But not only did I just study based with Dave Holland, but I studied music with Bob Moses, with Jerry Allen, great jazz pianist. George Garzone, incredible tenor Sax player. John McNeil is a great trumpet player. All musicians known for pushing the envelope. So I remember having private lessons with Jerry Allen, you know, who just was a monstrous, incredible jazz pianist. And so irreverent and about the music and steeped and the tradition and yet pushing the envelope and really trying to do new things. At first we did, I would say, more traditional lessons where, you know, she would have me do things like, oh, go transcribe this Charles Mingo solo or something. But eventually it, the lessons turned into, as did most of my lessons with all those people, we have an hour for a lesson, Improvise, go. And so it was just this constant pushing and encouragement to explore, you know, explore the instrument, explore the music, explore all the possibilities while at the same time, you know, learning the history of music so you kind of knew where it all came from. So again, lucky to have some great mentors. Once I started Modeski, Martin and Wood with John Modesky and Billy Martin, those guys were on the same trajectory, if not even more so. Like very independent minded, always about stretching the music. We never knew what we were going to do. We always knew what we were not going to do. So we sort of had no idea what we were doing, but we knew we could, by process of elimination, find a path forward musically. The way we approached our career, the way we toured, everything about it was in a very independent spirit and not wanting to be boxed in and wanting to be able to call all the shots, you know.

[Buzz Knight (Interviewer)]

So your music and you touched on it spans all these different genres. And when I think of the Wood Brothers, I don't think of the Wood Brothers in a category. I think of funk and jazz and folk and just gospel and just this range of things. How did your time when you spent in the Boston area, since I'm outside of Boston, how did that sort of influence you in terms of where the spirit of the music around Boston is so diverse as well?

[Chris Wood]

Well, I didn't. Honestly, I didn't last long in Boston. I went to the New England Conservatory of Music. I was full time for one semester. And by the second semester I really just started working playing gigs. By the summertime, I did this crazy tour where this Israeli sax player hired me, John Modesky and Bob Moses, another person, to be his rhythm section for a tour of Israel. And, you know, I was very young. I was like 20 years old or 21 years old. And it was just when Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwait, but the official Gulf War hadn't started yet. But, you know, there's a lot of crazy stuff going on. Tensions are really high. And here we were touring Israel and waiting for Scud missiles to come over into Tel Aviv at any moment. So it was an amazing experience, you know, and by then, that was my summer and I, I got a sublet in New York City where I just played gigs, you know, down in Rivington. And this is back in the early 90s, and man, was it not gentrified. So I was sort of almost scared to go on the street and basically practiced all the time and then played some gigs and, and then went back for my second year of school in Boston. But I, I was literally just part time. I was only taking private lessons at that point. That's when I really went in deep with all those mentors that I thought told you about. And so I was really just playing shows, playing, playing gigs and, and taking the lessons and. And by the end of that year, John Modeski and I decided to get a place together in East Village, Manhattan. And that's when we started Modeski, Martin and Wood. I think that was the summer of 1991.

[Buzz Knight (Interviewer)]

Well, it's obvious you and the band love live performance, and you've chronicled live performances quite frequently in the history of the Wood Brothers as well. Who and what are some of the live performances that really had an influence on you as a, a fan? Just watching and enjoying it.

[Chris Wood]

I mean, I. And living in New York City in the early 90s, early to mid mid-90s, I was able to see a lot of cool stuff, some things that, that I really remember that were special. Kachow is the great Bass player from Cuba. He's basically like the Duke Ellington of Cuba, invented the mambo. And his nephew or cousin is Cachaito Lopez. It's the Lopez family is all the great. This great family of bass players from Cuba. But he would. The Cachaito was part of the Bu Vista Social Club and. And all the offshoots of that. Kachow is kind of like the founding father. And he came out. Andy Garcia produced a. A double album with Cacao that came out around that time. And I got to see him at sobs, like, right up close. That was a huge influence. Seeing that. I remember seeing. I was also huge Sly Stone fan. And also through that, Graham, Central Station. So Graham, Larry Graham with Graham Central Station, bass player for Sly Stone, did a residency at Tramps in New York back then, too. I remember that being incredible, not just for the band and how amazing he was, but also for the audience. You know, he. He's the kind of musician that attracts musicians. And I just remember being surrounded by incredible singers and musicians, New York musicians in the audience who were like, singing along. And I felt like I was in, like, a church service, you know. Incredible. That was a good one. And then just really cool stuff like the Balinese National Orchestra coming to Town hall. Or like seeing Penderecki himself conducting the Trinity for the victims of Hiroshima with the New York Orchestra, you know, at Lincoln hall and all kinds of just incredible music. And not only that, you know, amazing dance performances. It's just. It's just New York's amazing for that. You know, you can just get quite a cultural education just by going out and seeing what's coming through town.

[Buzz Knight (Interviewer)]

Do you remember the moment that first cemented your love and passion for music, like how old you were and the moment that that happened?

[Chris Wood]

I don't know if there was a singular moment, but there was definitely an influence from our father, you know, who was by trade a molecular biologist. Like, he's sort of a respected scientist. But when he was at Harvard in the late 50s, he was also. And. And as a kid, you know, he was obsessed with folk music and was in that same generation as Bob Dylan, soaking up all the same music. So when he was a kid living in St. Louis, there was all these musicians coming up from the Ozarks and from Appalachia, and he was cutting class and learning all these songs. By the time he's in Harvard in the late 50s, he had his own radio show, he had his own band. He was doing duets with Joan Baez. And he. He knew like, 400 folk songs. Like, he just had that kind of mind, you know, so he. He didn't. He could have pursued it as his profession, but even though he didn't, we grew up with him singing and playing guitar around the house. And so I would say that is the earliest influence, seeing, you know, up close someone who can really play the guitar and sing a song. And that always stuck with me. I don't think I appreciated it until he started the Wood Brothers, you know, because I was off exploring a whole different musical universe in New York City and with Modesky, Martin, and Wood. And by the time the Wood Brothers started, you know, we were sort of in our mid to late 30s, and reflecting back was like, oh, this is like coming full circle now, being in a band where we're really writing songs and exploring roots American music in that way. That's when you've kind of felt the connection back to our father in those early days.

[Buzz Knight (Interviewer)]

Can you take us inside the process that went down for Hard as the Hero, which is your latest? And it's just outstanding. The. The songwriting process, the recording process. Give us a little glimpse into how you guys work?

[Chris Wood]

Well, I mean, songs kind of come from different directions and grow organically. I mean, it might be some lyrics or some music that Oliver starts. It might be lyrics and music that I start. It might be even just a musical idea that Jono comes up with, whether it's on the keyboard or the drums. Sometimes the lyrics are disembodied for a while. They live just on the page without music. And then a piece of music comes along, like a voice memo, for example, maybe a sound check groove that we just spontaneously play together. And suddenly whoever wrote the lyrics is like, oh, that's. This actually is the perfect kind of music for these lyrics. Some music is good at generating lyrics, you know, like, it might be a very generic piece of music that's. For some reason, it inspires you to. To write a story or create imagery. But then once that's done, you might realize, like, well, this. If I. If I keep this music, it's not going to be very interesting. So let's. Now that I have the lyrics, let's throw away the music, find a different piece of music. Let's find a new home for these words. And some really interesting things can happen that way, you know, so you can take a very generic country waltz or blues form, and it's kind of great for generating phrases of words, you know, but in the end, you're like, well, okay, this. That was great, but musically, let's do something more interesting. Let's do something different. So there's always that, you know, there's. There's always that process of creating and throwing away. Creating and throwing away. And by the end of hundreds of choices, you end up with something that's uniquely yours. It's. It's quite a variety of ways that the songs get written, the recording process. And this one was interesting, you know, only because we went fully to tape. We didn't use a computer, so a lot of people recorded tape. But we decided that we weren't even going to turn on a screen for the recording process. What we didn't realize is how profound that is. And I think most people you talk to in this modern world don't go a single day without turning on a screen of some kind of. And I think we've forgotten what it's like to live without them. We get all our information through screens now and with all this information and data that comes through the screens, we are able to agonize over all these choices that we make in our lives. Whether it's the weather or the stock market or the news or the traffic or all these things that before the screens existed, you just pay attention to your present moment and your environment immediately around you and make split second decisions based off what you see and hear and feel. Very obvious what I'm saying. But we take it so for granted now that all this data is streaming through these screens that you kind of have to take a minute to really remember what that was like. So making this record, it felt like going back to that little bit. We never turn on a screen when you don't use a computer. I think we have to remind people that the way most records are made these days with computers, anything you record, you can be manipulated in just endless amount of ways, right? So it changes the whole mindset. Like whatever the performance, whatever happened in the performance can be manipulated or fixed. You know, as people say, like, well that, that wasn't a perfect take, but we can fix it with a computer. We'll change, you know, we'll mute this part or edit this part or I'll rerecord this one little part or when you go on the tape, that option is not there, at least not as simply. It's. It's quite a risky task to try to redo a little part of a song, right? Because you could destroy the entire take by erasing too much of the song, you know. So the result is it completely changes your decision process when you listen back. If you go we go in and we track a song, we go into the control room to listen back to it. Instead of having the mindset of like, well, this may not be perfect, but we can fix changes to does this feel good or does it not feel good? And if it feels good enough that you can forgive any imperfections, then you go with it. But if it doesn't feel good enough, then you just perform it again is not the option to fix. So, you know, everyone closes their eyes, you play the tape, and it's purely listening. When you have a screen and you're listening back to a take, you see the waveforms on the screen. So you're not purely listening. You're watching the music and you can see before a sound happens, you can see it on the screen. So, oh, here comes the vocal, here comes the drum track. And it's not. That's not the way we experience music when we're just a listener, appreciator, or a fan. So it's all these things, again, so obvious. But it really does change the way you perceive and experience the music. And therefore, as the creator, it changes the way you make decisions about, you know, what is good and what is not good enough. Does that make sense?

[Buzz Knight (Interviewer)]

Yeah, it really does. Because even before you went and talked about imperfection, which is so missing in so much music these days. Yes, you read my mind where I was going to go next.

[Chris Wood]

So, and this is an important point to this is, I like to point this out because it's so important and it's the reason, the explanation of what you just said of why so much music today is missing the imperfections, which are these imperfections that a lot of our favorite recordings of the golden age of recording, like the early 70s, let's say there's imperfections that become your favorite part of the song. You know, it's the most human part. And through things like Pro tools and all the computer editing, the way people mix songs is they listen to it and they're like, oh, that. That could be a little better. I'm going to adjust that level and I'm going to tweak that little part. And then they listen to it again. Oh, now I hear something else. I'm going to just change that. And we describe it as like a microscope. You're putting a microscope that's way too powerful over this piece of music and seeing all the little rough edges. And when you get in that mindset, your tendency is to fix all the rough edges, because you can. That's, you know, it's kind of this amazing technology. You can do that, but the result is you tend to eventually massage out of the music all of the personality. So there's so it's not to say that the technology is useless or we shouldn't use it, but you have to be mindful of that. And it's always good to remember that so that you act quickly and you trust your gut instinct. But if you only if you just keep using the technology because it's there and it's an option and you can, yeah, the end result tends to feel.

[Buzz Knight (Interviewer)]

Really, really well put.

[Today Show Announcer]

We'll be right back with more of the Taking a Walk podcast.

[Buzz Knight]

This episode of Taking a Walk is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve. Whether I'm booking my next vacation or going to a concert, Chase Sapphire Reserve is my gateway to the world's most captivating destinations. Travel is one of the most precious things in my life and the memories of each of the experiences live on forever. Chase Sapphire Reserve allows me to travel with ease with a $300 travel credit and access to a curated collection of hotels through the edit. So no matter where I'm walking, travel is more rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve. Discover more with Chase Sapphire [e-mail] SapphireReserve cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank NA member FDIC subject to credit approval.

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[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Now through August 26th. It's back to Deals time, where you can enjoy storewide deals and earn four times points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Lindor, Oreo Lays, Celsius, Cottonelle and Snapple. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pickup or delivery subject to availability restrictions.

[Chris Wood]

Apply.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Chris Wood]

Good morning, welcome to Today.

[Today Show Announcer]

From back to school to tackling your to do list, the Today show is your best start to the day. It's a new season and every morning we're here to help you take it all off as the forecast calls for football all across the country, blockbuster stars, live concerts and so much more. Wake up to where it's all happening.

[Commercial Voice]

We're getting back to all of it.

[Chris Wood]

And the best way to start is together.

[Today Show Announcer]

Watch the Today show weekday mornings at 7:00am on NBC.

[Chris Wood]

Ah, come on.

[Commercial Voice]

Why is this taking so long?

[Chris Wood]

This thing is ancient.

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[Chris Wood]

Whoa, this thing moves.

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[Today Show Announcer]

Welcome back to the Taking a Walk podcast.

[Buzz Knight (Interviewer)]

So on Heart is the Hero There is a theme that I detect running through of sort of mindfulness and enjoying and savoring moments. Pilgrim is one that sort of says we're all running around too fast to slow down. And rolling on is a beautiful one about, you know, finding love as the guiding light between the beats. You know, Oliver pulls that sort of meditation technique and line those pockets also is really kind of looking at mercy and materialism. How did you guys get to this wonderful place that embodies the spirit of this album?

[Chris Wood]

It's something we talk about a lot. I mean, and not just recently, but for years. You know, constantly fascinated. And it stems from looking back at performing because after shows we're always talking about what did that feel like for you and what did it feel like for you? Was it good? Was it bad? What does that even mean? And I think what we've all learned, any, any musician who's been doing this kind of thing long enough learns eventually is that however they think it went, it doesn't mean it's good or Bad, you know, that you can't trust the way your just personal experience was. I've had shows that I thought were a disaster and people loved it. Or maybe I even heard a recording of it. It's like, oh, my God. So interesting. Like, that was unusual and beautiful, something about it. But I felt terrible on stage. I felt insecure. Or the opposite. Where. And this happens a lot where in recording too, in the studio, where you get that feeling like, I just nailed it. That was perfect. I played the crap out of that song. That's usually not the best take. You know, there's no. Because it lacks, in general, those kind of. When you feel that way, it's. You're too in control and it lacks vulnerability and it lacks humanity. It's. You've perfected something. You've turned it into a formula when you feel that way and you can repeat that formula, but that formula is never as interesting as that vulnerable first take when you actually didn't know what was happening. So once you accept that you're not in control and you're not even really. I mean, there's a lot to be said about preparation, but ultimately, in the heat of the moment, in the final performance, no matter what, you're really not in control to how it turns out, because there's just too, too much happening. But the one thing you're in control of is your presence of mind and just paying attention. That's the one thing you can do. And it's the most important thing, of course. And that's, you know, this gets talked a lot about. People have been talking about that for thousands of years. And it's a slippery slope, right? And how do you do that? How do you. How do you get out of your own way? How do you not be self conscious? You know, all these sort of paradoxes and conundrums that people struggle with. So there's a lyric that repeats itself on the records in two different songs, and it's remember to remember. So the hardest thing about this, like, if I asked you, like, can you enjoy yourself right now? Can you just, like. And people. You know, it's like a guided meditation, right? Someone guiding a meditation will get you to be mindful of your body and, like, think of your feet and your shoulders and your neck and can you relax and can you breathe and can you smile and actually enjoy this moment. Even if you have a few cranky parts in your body right now, it's actually not that hard, right? If you allow yourself a moment to go there, no big deal. Like Most people can make themselves feel better and gain some presence of mind. The hardest thing about it is, like, suddenly you're up on stage in front of a whole bunch of people performing. Can you do it then? Or when someone in the studio hits the record button and you're trying to make your definitive version of a song for a record, you know, and that pressure is on. Can you. Can you get yourself into that space right then? And so we found that the hardest thing about being mindful or being present is remembering to do it. And so it's. It's a. Becomes an interesting practice of, like, sure, you can do it when you're all alone and you're in a peaceful place, but can you do it in a chaotic place? Can you do it when you're in pain? Can you do it when you're in the middle of an argument with someone else? Like, practicing presence of mind in difficult situations is where you really learn how to do it. So as a performer and dealing with the nerves, the tension, or other things that can happen on stage in your mind, or the fact that maybe your monitors are not working or something technically is going around, can you still relax, listen, and enjoy what's happening? I think so much of the best music happens when we kind of don't even realize it, because really all you're doing in that moment is listening, not to yourself, but to the other people in the band. And if you're in a state of mind where you trust your own instincts without thinking about it, you just react with the perfect, appropriate response. So there's a lot of trust involved.

[Buzz Knight (Interviewer)]

You know, we produce this other podcast, it's called Music Save Me. And it focuses on kind of the healing power of music from musicians viewpoint. Do you believe music has healing powers?

[Chris Wood]

Well, yeah, of course. I mean, the music is incredible. You know, like when Bob Marley. Bob Marley said it all with. You know, once the music hits, you feel all right, right? That's true. It's amazing. When you put on some music, it literally immediately changes your state of mind. So there's. That's truly a magical thing. But I think it's probably not much different than paying attention to anything. You know, if you're in a. A drab, blank room and all of a sudden someone hangs an amazing piece of artwork or puts this incredible bouquet of flowers in there, and you smell it and you see the colors. Anything that is organic and, and is something to focus on, I think also does things to your mind that are probably similar. But I think the practice of playing music is healing just because you're working on those very things of trying to. Of being present while you're doing something. And I think playing an instrument or singing comes with all kinds of baggage. You know, you have this desire to be good at it. Maybe not when you're a tiny little kid and you're first banging on a piano and you've never, you know, it's just probably this euphoric outburst, but. But eventually when, when you get indoctrinated with all the hang ups of society, your desire when you play an instrument is that you're supposed to be good at it. And that is the one thing that'll get in the way of you making good music. You're going to be so hung up on that. So that's when then you have to start practicing. How do I let go of that and simply pay attention? Not to myself, because I'm gonna focus on the minutiae of whether I'm doing it right and wrong, but instead focus on everything else but myself and learn how to trust that I will react appropriately. And that's just, that's the essence of even just living in the present moment, whether you're playing music or not, right? Just paying attention and trusting that if you simply pay attention, you'll know what to do, your environment will tell you what to do. But you have to trust yourself to let go of the forethought and the hang ups. So easier said than done, but it really takes practice.

[Buzz Knight (Interviewer)]

How does being an organic farmer help you as a creator?

[Chris Wood]

It takes me away from my instrument. I mean, I think you'll hear a lot of artists talk. You know, people like Rick Rubin or, you know, all kinds of creators will talk about the power of simply taking a walk. You know, if you're working on a song or working on something creative or writing a book or whatever it may be, and you take a walk, there's something about that. So farming is a lot of heavy labor and repetitive. And you know, we do most of our farming not with machines. You know, we're on a small farm and on an island in British Columbia. So it's just a lot of sort of just labor, but in a beautiful place. There's birds, there's lots of. The wildlife here is amazing. So it's a peaceful place where you just do hard work for hours on end. That's a great time for a song to kind of. It's like a meditation. It's a time to kind of let a song just keep looping in a pleasant way away from Your instrument. And I stumble across a lot of good ideas, I think doing that. And it also gets you away from over practicing. You know, I think a lot of my heroes for talking about classic blues musicians, and there's all kinds of people that. That we love, you know, in the sort of Alan Lomax folk tradition of recordings that were working hard all day. They weren't sitting around practicing scales in a room. Like their music came at the end of a hard day because they. They needed it. You know, they needed that release that it was this joyful expression. I think all this work and being away from my instrument then creates a hunger. And there's never a chance I'm ever going to be burnt out. I think there can be a danger creatively to working on something too much in a room by yourself, to practicing too much. You can go down all kinds of rabbit holes and maybe lose sight of what's vital about music.

[Buzz Knight (Interviewer)]

Chris, in closing, what do you think the future uncharted territory is for you and the Wood Brothers? Because you guys are always looking forward.

[Chris Wood]

I think once you fall in love, when. Once you understand. I mean, the beautiful thing about music is it nobody has ever figured it out. No one's ever gonna figure it out. It's. It's just this, the endless. One of those endless games that it's those infinite possibilities. If anything, you can start to at least get familiar of the process and why the process works. You're not in control. Like, it comes back to that thing again when writing and even when playing, if you want the music to feel right, you're not in control. That keeps it infinitely interesting. I think if you were in control and if music were a formula that you could figure out, it would get boring really quickly because everyone could do it. Anybody could do it. The process that I think now we've gone through enough times to realize these things means that it's never going to get boring. There's endless ideas. There's endless new combinations of things to stumble upon. We're in a situation, I feel really lucky to be in a situation, to be working with. In the same way that I had this with Modeski, Martin and Wood, but with Oliver, my brother, and John Ricks, two people that have different tastes, and yet I have huge amount of respect for all of their insights and opinions. So if I bring in a musical idea, whether it's lyrics or just the music, and they hear a way to change it, I have a complete trust that they're hearing something that's a good idea that I just for some reason couldn't hear because I was stuck in one perspective. So to be with co creators like that is incredible. It saves you again, a lot of time from maybe getting lost down creative rabbit holes that aren't gonna end up in a very interesting place. So incredibly grateful for that. Yeah, it's really fun. I mean, I think there's this romanticized idea about being a creator all by yourself and doing everything. And this, this sort of Internet culture has taken that to a whole other level. It used to be a lot of our favorite recordings from back in the day. You had the composer, you had a different person was the arranger, you had the star singer, you had an orchestra. All those were different people that then created this one recording that we love. And then you had maybe a TV show that promoted them and all that kind of thing. Now think about people growing up in this age. They have to be the writer, the arranger, the performer. They have to video themselves doing it. It's not collaborative anymore. You're expected to be this renaissance person who can do everything at such a high level, and there are the few freaky people who do it and they're amazing, you know, and they become big on YouTube and Instagram and TikTok. But for, I think for most creators, it's a collaborative process and the beautiful things happen because we listen to each other and follow the music instead of, you know, feeling like we're in control of it and it must abide to our will.

[Buzz Knight (Interviewer)]

Amazing. I'm so grateful for the time. I'm grateful for the music. I'm really so happy to talk to you and I wish you well on the road. And thanks for being on Taking a Walk, Chris.

[Chris Wood]

Thanks, Buzz. All right, My pleasure.

[Buzz Knight]

Thanks for listening to this episode of Taking a Walk with Chris Wood from the Wood Brothers. Thanks for listening to this episode of Taking a Walk with Chris Wood from the Wood Brothers. Share Taking a Walk with your friends. We'd really appreciate it. Also, follow us so you never miss an episode and leave us a review that would be really helpful for us as well. Find us at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or the iHeartRadio app where you can search Taking a Walk this episode of Taking a Walk is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve. Whether I'm booking my next vacation or going to a concert, Chase Sapphire Reserve is my gateway to the world's most captivating destinations. When I use my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, I get eight times points on all the purchases I make through Chase Travel and and even access to one of a kind experiences like music festivals and sports events. And that's not even mentioning how the card gets me into the Sapphire Lounge by the club at select airports nationwide. No matter where I'm walking, travel is more rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve. Discover [e-mail] Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank Naomi Member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply.

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[Chris Wood]

Ugh. Come on.

[Commercial Voice]

Why is this taking so long?

[Chris Wood]

This thing is ancient.

[Lenovo Advertiser]

Still using yesterday's tech Upgrade to the ThinkPad X1 carbon ultra light. Ultra powerful and built for serious productivity with Intel Core Ultra processors, blazing speed and AI powered performance. It keeps up with your business, not the other way around.

[Chris Wood]

Whoa. This thing moves.

[Lenovo Advertiser]

Stop hitting snooze on new tech. Win the tech [e-mail] Lenovo Lenovo unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 carbon powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create and boost productivity all on one device.

[Chris Wood]

This is an Iheart podcast.