Vancouver based eclectic roots/ jazz collective Blackberry Wood are bringing the circus back to Lethbridge, March 28 at the Slice. Frontman Kris Wood is looking forward to playing the music from their new CD which features luminaries like accordion player Geoff Berner and C.R. Avery. We just finished the CD. It’s absolutely marvellous. 
It’s theatrical circus music, but it is a rock album,” Wood described.
“It’s amazing, it’s beautiful,” he said of the 15 songs. They include a lot of special guests including several fiddle players and another accordion player.
“It has a big, old school rock sound. It sounds like a Led Zeppelin or The Who album but the material has more gypsy influences. And my favourite band is the Clash. They have a nice feel,” he continued. It hasn’t been released yet as it is still in the mastering stages.
This touring edition of the band, as they always have a different line-up, features Jen (“Just call her Jen”‚) on saxophone, Ryan on drums and Kris Wood playing guitar and vocals and providing theatrics. It also includes Shelder on trumpet and Devon playing an array of percussion, giant cymbals and some banjo. There may even be some fire breathing during their show.
Their shows are always entertaining, featuring a lot of energy, humour, wacky costumes and hats and an unstoppable beat.
“I haven’t thought of a theme for this show yet,” he said.
“What would fit in for Lethbridge,” he pondered.
“ Maybe a snake oil salesman or vaudeville,” he said
They are embarking on an 18 day tour out to Saskatoon and back home to the west coast. He is currently booking a tour of the United Kingdom for spring and summer.
While Blackberry Wood have a very eclectic, jazz/ gypsy based sound with a lot of theatre, Wood noted he comes from rock and roll roots.
“Kiss was pretty theatrical,” frontman Kris Wood observed.
“I can play all my favourite styles of music with this band, though it took a while to get here,” he continued.
“I’ve been through a lot of stuff. My first band was a rock-pop band and we won a lot of battle of the bands. We went over to Japan with it. It was a rock and pop band and I got tired of it,” he related.
“My second band was a jazz/ punk band like Nomeansno or Mr. Bungle and I had a lot of fun with that. Then there was this thing called hick hop country and I started exploring country music and discovered western swing while I was going to school and studying jazz,” he continued adding Blackberry Wood combines elements of all of those styles.
Wood and Geoff Berner go back a long ways so he is on all of their CDs.
“Geoff and I go way back. When I was in my first band competing in battle of the bands Geoff was in another band competing against us,” he recalled.
“We both went to Japan to represent Canada. He is on two tracks of the new CD,” he said.
