As the festival season starts to unfold, Wood Burnt Red joined a plethora of country artists and singer songwriters for a day of Nashville style writers rounds at The Bedford in London to raise money for Dementia UK.
Sitting down with singer Tom Franklin, drummer Eddie Baldwin and bass player Russ Staples before their headline slot, the three fifths of Wood Burnt Red spoke to Tea with G about being BBC Introducing Artist of the Week, finding fans a long way from home and what it’s like to be in a band with your mates.
Having interrupted the green room jam sessions headed up by previous Tea with G interviewee, Fin Pearson, we piled into the tiny dressing room and I was kind of grateful there was only three of them. The coat hangers rattling on the clothes rail provided the acoustics while we figured out the best arrangement: Franklin and Staples stood - taking care not to crash into the giant mirror or ironing board - behind Baldwin who sat on a chair while I squashed onto the actual dressing table. It was cosy, to say the least.
Wood Burnt Red featured as BBC Introducing Artist of the Week for Hereford and Worcester in the week prior to this interview, saying it was a ‘pleasant surprise.’ There is an agreement amongst them as they share their excitement for it. “To be played several times a day on Hereford and Worcester and then pushing it out further afield,” says Franklin about the feature, “it’s just unbelievable, really.”
Their disbelief continues as they travelled further into the Great Dark North to play at 45 Vinyl Café in York – a somewhat ‘destination venue’ for musicians around the UK, following in the footsteps of The Bluebird café in Nashville. “We didn’t really know what we were turning up to,” Franklin says about the relatively new venue, “and the place just packed out, we couldn’t believe it.” The band’s amazement that they have fans outside of their hometown makes them all the more likeable. “There was a massive turn out. Immense,” says Staples with Baldwin calling it ‘humbling’. “When you go up to the bar and they’re like, ‘oh we’re so glad you played this’,” says Franklin, “we’ve come three hours north to someone who lives round the corner in York listening to it in their kitchen. Unbelievable.”
The boys have all known each other since they were young, playing in bands together or apart, building years and years of music experience between them. You might assume, as I did, that being in a band with your friends makes things like taking risks and being vulnerable much easier, but Franklin had a different insight on the matter. “Sometimes. Sometimes it’s more difficult,” he says about being open and honest with the band, “disagreements get taken to heart a lot more when you’re a lot closer, but it does mean we can get past it a lot quicker. It’s like brotherly love – you have your spat and then you get on with it, but the spats can happen a little more often than normal.” Nods of approval from all present band members - at least they agree on this…
Wood Burnt Red has a unique sound amongst the UK country scene, but I was immediately transported to the Old Dominion headline set from C2C this year. “We get that a lot because we do love Old Dominion,” Franklin says, “but we don’t go out of our way to sound like them.” The band takes inspiration from other bands like Brothers Osborne and Blackberry Smoke – who they’re away to see for the third time this September. With the opening act, The Steel Woods, announcing their retirement from the road, it would appear that Blackberry Smoke has an opening. “We’ve tried,” says Franklin as I point out the obvious, “we’ve put the feelers out there, but we’ve not heard anything back.” Here’s hoping the American country rock band want to support local when they’re over here this Autumn.
2023 was a big year for Wood Burnt Red; five single releases, debut performance at Buckle and Boots and signing with W21Records and ZimagineD Artist Management. The band are returning to Buckle and Boots again this year, “this is a massive festival,” says Franklin. “It’s very close to our hearts,” Baldwin says and they all agree as this is where they were signed to their current label. “It was just a big introduction to the UK country scene, and we got a lot of following from that festival,” Franklin says, “so we’re very thankful to be able to go back.”
The band also made another friendship at Buckle and Boots in the form of Tyler Spicer who is now pretty much part of the ‘brotherhood’ in the band. “He offered us something we couldn’t say no to and, my god, the creative gap that he opened in us…the journey we went on with him is unbelievable and we cannot wait to show everyone what we’ve got coming out.” I wasn’t able to get much more info on any new music, but they are hoping to work towards an album. They’ve also worked alongside First Time Flyers bandmember and producer, Tim Prottey-Jones, on some of their tracks like ‘Dead and Gone’, and ‘The Hills’.
A lot of UK artists see themselves over in Nashville to really tap into the magic of the home of country music, but the boys of Wood Burnt Red are just enjoying the ride…for now. “We have no agenda,” Franklin says about working in Nashville, “we'd love to go there, it’s been on our bucket list for years but as for where we see ourselves going – we just want to play.” They’re still juggling day jobs around their dreams but are getting closer to making music their fulltime gig (ha!). “It’s exciting for what we’re doing over here and hopefully that will lead to stuff over there in the future.”
I asked the band what their favourite song from their 2023 releases is. There was a unanimous agreement that ‘18 stone’ was the group favourite, with Staples adding in ‘Redneck’ for a bit of variety. They were all also pretty clear that ‘Day Drinking’ was the best song to write and record a video for, with Franklin proud of the research he did for it, “you’ve got to know what you’re singing about!” he says about the song, “there is a popular BBQ establishment that we like to frequent and do some day drinking and that’s where it was all born”.
At the time of the interview, the band couldn’t tell me much about upcoming plans but in the few weeks that have passed since, they have announced an impressive list of gigs and festivals that they’re playing. The British Country Music Festival in Blackpool, West Country Music Festival in Devon and the prestigious Black Deer Festival in Kent. They’re also doing a show in their hometown at The Swan Hotel in Upton Upon Severn.
Wood Burnt Red are a band to watch – they’re a group of friends doing what they love and creating great music. They’re humble, they’re fun and they’re not taking any of this for granted. Keep up to date with them through their website, Instagram and their Spotify.
This interview was conducted in collaboration with Live in the Living Room
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