The Wood Brothers
Wood Brothers: Chris Wood, Jano Rix and Oliver Wood Credit: Laura Partain

Grammy-nominated folk fam the Wood Brothers performing at the Plaza Live Thursday, road-testing their 2025 album Puff of Smoke and celebrating the 20th anniversary of debut album Ways Not to Lose. This touring run, kicked off in Atlanta last week and now stopping in Orlando’s Milk District features a still-fresh setlist full of new songs as well as fan favorites from previous albums. 

The core duo of brothers Oliver and Chris Wood got their musical start in Boulder, Colorado, beginning their music careers separately, each playing in a number of different bands before inevitably uniting. Now Nashville-based, with the addition of adept percussionist and multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix, the Wood Brothers proffer an ever-evolving and crowd-pleasing Americana-rooted sound that draws on jazz and, most recently, Latin influences.

The Wood Brothers saw success in a big way with their 2018 album, One Drop of Truth, which was nominated for Best Americana Album at the 61st Grammy Awards. They’ve built on that momentum steadily, last year releasing ninth album Puff of Smoke and starting this new touring cycle as 2026 dawned. 

Guitarist Oliver Wood tells Orlando Weekly that the band’s diverse sound emerged naturally after reconnecting with his brother.

“When we put the Wood Brothers together, Chris and I had already gone our separate ways after we left home,” Oliver Wood says. “We played in completely different zones. We kind of grew apart, and what brought us together as brothers was music. We hadn’t played together in years and we sat down: ‘Wow, this is so cool.’ We had both discovered our musical and human identities by being apart for a while and living for 10 years.”

The tight-knit trio approached the production of Puff of Smoke with an experimental bent, looking to organically expand their Americana fusion sound — and maybe even have some fun along the way. “I think the intention was to be open to anything and be able to try anything,” Wood says. “That’s where you kill your creativity, by questioning or judging. So I think the beauty of it, for me, is not to know how something’s going to turn out.”

The Wood Brothers’ nontraditional folk sound has long been their calling card. Puff of Smoke, taking in new influences from gospel and jazz, is no different. “We pushed ourselves to really make some new sounds,” Wood says. “Like, what’s a new recipe we can come up with? Let’s mix some Latin music here with some gospel, and see what that feels like for a song. No matter how hard we try to be experimental, it’s still going to sound like the Wood Brothers.”

The Puff of Smoke songs are thus far connecting on stage with tongue-in-cheek lyrics that engage the crowd. “I look forward every night to playing songs like ‘The Trick,’ ‘Witness’ and ‘Pray God Listens,’” Wood says. “Those are all really fun to play live for me, because I think they’re fun songs with quirky lyrics and quirky music, and it’s just fun to play.”

When asked about his favorite part of touring, Wood says that the palpable energy at shows is the most fun. “Ultimately, my favorite shows are where everybody feels really connected,” Wood says. “So that involves singing, it involves listening. But it’s often just a vibe that you can’t really put your finger on.”

In 20 years of the Wood Brothers’ history, metaphorical fortunes have fluctuated, but for Wood, the impact the music has on fans is the most fulfilling. 

“There’s traveling the world and being able to see new places,” Wood says, “[but] when people connect to the music and say after a show, ‘Hey, that album got me through a really tough time,’ I now appreciate my job for that.”

Wood emphasizes that music can be a much-need source of positivity and comfort for a roomful of strangers, essential in these times. 

“A lot of times you imagine a room of 1,000 people watching your show,” Wood says. “Some of those people may have very different politics, religion or whatever outlooks. They might be stressed out, but they’re all there for the same reason, and they’re all getting the same vibe in the room, and it feels good. I just want everybody to feel that positivity and maybe escape.”

The Wood Brothers with Ric Robertson, 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5, The Plaza Live, 425 N. Bumby Ave., plazaliveorlando.org, $41-$106.

Orlando’s daily dose of what matters. Subscribe to The Daily Weekly.

This article appears in Feb. 4-10, 2026.