Chris Wood

Event information

Chris Wood is an uncompromising writer whose music reveals his love for the un-official history of the English speaking people. With gentle intelligence he weaves the tradition with his own contemporary parables. A self-taught musician, composer and song writer, Chris is a lifelong autodidact whose independent streak shines through everything he does. Always direct and unafraid to speak his mind, his song writing has been praised for its surgical clarity. He cites his major influence as “Anon”.

His most recent album ‘So Much to Defend’ has received wide critical acclaim and includes reflections on minor league football, empty nest syndrome, learning to swim, Cook-in Sauce and, not least, the Gecko as a metaphor for contemporary society.

Hollow Point; his chilling ballad of the shooting of Jean Charles Menezez, won a BBC Folk Award (he's won six.) and emphatically secured Wood’s place as a serious speech-master for the unofficial history of England.

Collaborators include Martin Carthy, Dizraeli, Billy Bragg, Andy Cutting, Andy Irvine, Karine Polwart, Jean Francois Vrod, The Imagined Village, Hugh Lupton, Martin Butler and many others.

On stage Chris has the air of a craftsman who no longer needs to be precious about his art. Without any apparent effort he reaches deep into an enviable repertoire of songs before revealing another gem.

Praise for ‘So Much to Defend’:

fROOTS MAGAZINE
“Chris Wood might be the Ken Loach of songwriting. Very political, but at the same time full of compassion, and he grows sharper and more acute with each passing album. He’s good, quite probably the very best we have today, and we
need him more than ever.”

ACOUSTIC MAGAZINE
“Steeped in tradition, yet always striving for a new day, this is a glorious album proving that Chris Wood is a bit of a national treasure.

Other press quotes:
The Herald ***** 5 Stars
“As close as it gets to a perfect union of voice and guitar, lyrics and melody, compassion, irony, realism, wit, and humanity.”

THE IRISH TIMES ***** 5 Stars
“Nobody comes even close to equaling his bird’s-eye-view.”
MOJO **** 4 Stars
“a rarefied talent, both as writer and interpreter.”

Praise for ‘None The Wiser’:
INDEPENDENT ***** 5 Stars
“The title track alone is a masterpiece”

EXPRESS ***** 5 Stars
“Wood has honed his songwriting to perfection here… heartbreaking purity.”

THE GUARDIAN **** 4 Stars
“Remarkable for the settings as much as the lyrics.”

SONGLINES
“a quietly powerful, astute and vivid set of songs… A folk–soul album”
“Chris takes a traditional song and has you absolutely gripped…. He makes it really obvious why it is of contemporary relevance. On the flip side, he has managed this magical thing, writing songs on contemporary themes, or putting music to Hugh Lupton’s words, that absolutely fit hand in glove with traditional songs, but are totally modern.”
— Ian Anderson (fRoots Magazine)