Andy Wood

Andy Wood is a versatile and accomplished musician known for his incredible technical prowess and deep musicality. With his recent release, Charisma, Andy took a completely different approach to his songwriting, pushing the boundaries of instrumental music and delivering a record that is both complex and emotionally deep. With roots in bluegrass and a wide array of influences spanning from country to cinematic scores, Andy brings a unique perspective to his music, infusing it with emotion and creativity—proving to be a true artist pushing the boundaries of instrumental music. Recently, Heavyocity’s Co-Founder and former Annihilator guitarist, Neil Goldberg, sat down with Andy for a laid-back, musician-to-musician chat about the journey behind this incredible new album, and what’s coming next.

I want to talk about composing. Your new record is amazing and to my ear it’s a leap from your last regarding depth of composition, melodic themes, and catchy hooks, all while being an instrumental record. Do you see it as a leap from “Junktown” and “Caught Between the Truth and a Lie”? and what drove this sort of evolution?

It’s interesting, I don’t see albums as a linear thing. It’s not like a straight line that gets better or worse because my past three records have been a completely different approach. Junktown with the intent of being heavily influenced by southern music, country bluegrass, etc. and Turning those genres up with big electric distorted guitars and sprinkling in some fusionesque moments. Charisma was a record that started with a blank slate of being in lockdown during Covid and me just writing at night and not having a specific thought behind writing, just writing for therapy’s sake. So, when it came time to decide the direction, I had 50 some-odd demos and I listened to those melodies and compiled the collection that really formed the statement of the record, and in short it’s just that—the strongest melodies. From there I went full steam into production and arrangement on them.

In our previous discussion during our Heavyocity Roundtable Interview, you mentioned Charisma was all about melodic ideas first, you could only use single notes and double stops, not flashy stuff, and no chordal stuff while creating these hooks/melodies/themes. Was that difficult in the beginning, being confined to that “box”?

Well to be extremely specific it wasn’t even “double stops” it was just a bass note and a melody. And it was actually quite the opposite, it was very freeing. I was able to just sing the melody over and over, change what feel the harmony had based on the bass note and from there it was an open sandbox of how I wanted to layer the chords and harmony. It gave me an empty canvas that I could just explore and mess around with, when a chord is super dense it gets real specific real quick on what’s gonna sound nice over that chord.

To me, this record is the most eclectic to date and it’s no surprise because you have some diverse and unique influences. Can you talk about your roots as a musician?

My early years was really 100 percent bluegrass and mandolin. It wasn’t until I was 17- ish before I started with the electric guitar as a serious thing. From there my influences were really all over the place—session guys like Brent Mason and Dann Huff, guitar heroes like EVH and Eric Johnson, fusion, movie scores, jazz and bebop, I mean I really listen to everything from Dream Theater to Pavarotti.

A lot of your YouTube videos open with “Hello Music Lovers” which is cool yet unexpected coming from a player with your technical ability and musical vocabulary. Why that opener phrase?

It’s because I want non guitarists to feel just as welcome on my channels and at my shows. Also, It’s actually a phrase my childhood hero Sam Bush would say at his shows. Sam is a world-renowned bluegrass mandolin player and is a pinnacle influence on me, so it’s a bit of a tip of the hat and showing respect to him. Just a little nod to a hero.

We’ve touched on your love for cinematic themes and being a fan of Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Ludwig Goransson. What other non-guitar centric composers/songwriters do you like?

Hmm there’s so many, Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart. Yeah, I love Mozart a ton! All the classical greats for sure. Non-guitarists would also be BIG time on Bela Fleck, Greg Allman, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Jerry Douglas, Mark Oconnor, Paul Franklin, Matt Rollings, David Paich from Toto, Michael Salvatori, Jordan Rudess plays some INSANE stuff, Oscar Peterson is maybe the greatest jazz musician I’ve ever heard, I dunno there’s just so so many.

Our Heavyocity user base is largely cinematic composers. What is it about cinematic music that you gravitate to and how do you infuse that musical world into your material?

Probably the shortest answer I’ll give is melody. Composers REALLY dial in on melody. They have to, right? Cause it’s gotta set the sonic backdrop for the visuals on screen, and the most powerful thing that connects with people is melody.

From our previous discussions about your new Album, you mentioned it was written during Covid and was an emotional journey. Music really is emotion; what effect did that have on the overall sound of this release?

The more emotional songs, like Cherry Blossoms for instance, was written when I lost my grandfather and dad. It was a melody I kept coming back to during those darkest times. Believe is the closing track yet it was one of the first if not the first song I wrote during lockdown. There was so much darkness and split and divide happening socially that I just kept coming back to the simple idea that we as people have the potential to be greater than our differences, that thought of hope (as cheesy as it may sound) was really where my heart was when I was writing the melodies to Believe. And if you notice it’s a pretty simple song, not a lot of fireworks and horsepower, it was just centered around a simple chord progression and a melody that carried that headspace I was in.

You had a couple of big-name guests on this record, as a guitarist I was already a fan of one and you introduced me to the other who you’ve said is on your “Mount Rushmore” of influences. How does it feel to have these internationally recognized master players guest solo on your new album? How did that come about?

Yeah man Brent Mason and Joe Bonamassa. It honestly came out very organically. I didn’t really intend on writing a tune with a guest in mind, it just kinda developed during pre-production. Just saying to Ben who engineered the record things like “man I bet Joe would smash this section” and Ben being like “dude you should just hit him up”. And I did, and both of those legends were just so gracious with their time. Folks often forget how busy an artist is and for them to take time to cut a solo was just awesome. I was very honored and truthfully, I was finally in a comfortable spot mentally to have big guests on an album. Because I feel like I’m getting more comfortable in my own skin and own identity. I didn’t feel like I was hitching my album to their fame, if that makes any sense.

You have an exciting Guitar Experience coming up very soon, tell us about that!

Yeah man Woodshed Guitar Experience! It’s my annual 4-day VIP guitar retreat I host in TN. We limit attendance to 100 people, we do 4 days and the admission covers everything, lessons, seminars, tone talk panels, nightly concerts, jams with the artists I mean EVERYTHING! We bring in an all-star house band, and it’s just really special. Because there’s only 100 folks it really guarantees a very intimate experience where the artists and campers can lower the barrier of “Pro” and “Fan” and it turns more into just a weekend of guitar lovers and fellowship around the instrument. It’s something that I would’ve killed to go to when I was coming up. This year’s lineup is crazy, Steve Morse, Andy Timmons, Brent Mason, Tom Quayle, Jake Workman, Ariel Posen, Ryan Fluff Bruce, Levi Clay, Ben Eller, and of course the insane house band with Jim Riley, Daniel Kimbro, Andy Campbell and Steve King on keys (not the author lol). It’s amazing and if anyone wants to check it out, go to WoodshedGuitarExperience.com

Andy Wood’s Credits: Toured with Rascal Flatts, Scott Stapp, Solo Artist, Studio Session Musician
New album Charisma is now available on all platforms, go to AndyWoodMusic.com