The Sit Down with Wood Burnt Red
Midlands based Wood Burnt Red have quickly made a name for themselves as a band with a dynamic sound that blends southern rock with country. The group is composed of Tom Franklin (Vocals, Guitar), Rob Graney (Lead Guitar), Ed Baldwin (Drums), Mike Mann (Keys) and Russ Staples (Bass Guitar) who each bringing their own unique flair to the music. Their performances at high-profile festivals such as The Long Road, Black Deer Festival and C2C: Country to Country have already proven their ability to command a crowd and the guys recently appeared at Country Calling in Chelmsford where we spent some time chatting with them after their set at the festival.
Nice to meet you guys and it was great to get to see you play for the first time. I've seen your name on a lot of things but seeing you for the first time it sounds great, I really like it. It's almost like if TJ Osborne fronted 49 Winchester.
“We’ll definitely take that.”
I guess bands like that are ones that inspire you but what were the other influences that went into forming the sound that you have developed?
"Yeah, I mean. we've all had different backgrounds, haven't we? There is some jazz, soul, bluesy stuff, modern country, old country, rock and metal as well. Rob, we had to sort of bring into the country, he's not the original first guitarist, but he's been a long-term friend and we've played with him in different bands for many years, especially metal bands. So, we knew what his influence was coming into it, then Eddie, you just love playing anything, he's just here for a good time. So, I think it's just grabbing influences from each thing now and sort of what are we all happy playing rather than trying to force each other to play something we don't really want to play."
You said you've got a lot of influences that come into what you do. What was it that made you think that actually country is what we want to do and the direction we want to go as a band?
"His voice ha-ha. There's also the point, isn't there, where there was a famous saying like, you're into metal and then you hit thirty and you either get into World War II or smoking meat and country music. I fully embraced the smoking meat and country music which was definitely the right choice. I think for some of us, we've always liked country, some of us were born and raised on it, but there was always that, we've said it before, there was always that stigma of it not being cool and this, that or the other and all of a sudden, we'd already formed a band and then a few years later, country is on a huge rise."
Nice to meet you guys and it was great to get to see you play for the first time. I've seen your name on a lot of things but seeing you for the first time it sounds great, I really like it. It's almost like if TJ Osborne fronted 49 Winchester.
“We’ll definitely take that.”
I guess bands like that are ones that inspire you but what were the other influences that went into forming the sound that you have developed?
"Yeah, I mean. we've all had different backgrounds, haven't we? There is some jazz, soul, bluesy stuff, modern country, old country, rock and metal as well. Rob, we had to sort of bring into the country, he's not the original first guitarist, but he's been a long-term friend and we've played with him in different bands for many years, especially metal bands. So, we knew what his influence was coming into it, then Eddie, you just love playing anything, he's just here for a good time. So, I think it's just grabbing influences from each thing now and sort of what are we all happy playing rather than trying to force each other to play something we don't really want to play."
You said you've got a lot of influences that come into what you do. What was it that made you think that actually country is what we want to do and the direction we want to go as a band?
"His voice ha-ha. There's also the point, isn't there, where there was a famous saying like, you're into metal and then you hit thirty and you either get into World War II or smoking meat and country music. I fully embraced the smoking meat and country music which was definitely the right choice. I think for some of us, we've always liked country, some of us were born and raised on it, but there was always that, we've said it before, there was always that stigma of it not being cool and this, that or the other and all of a sudden, we'd already formed a band and then a few years later, country is on a huge rise."
In terms of festivals, it’s obviously the first time they've done this here, although at a site that's had so much festival history with V back in the day, but where you've played a lot of different events now, like you've done C2C and numerous outdoor ones, what makes a good festival experience beyond the crowd? What's kind of like a green flag as a festival when you rock up for the first time?
“That is a good question. A stage is good, so if it has a stage that is a good start ha-ha. I dunno, it’s good seeing like the car shows and the food vendors with like a smoker because it all feels part of that same scene isn’t it. I think if you've got that, if you've got decent stalls like clothes stalls and stuff like that, it just sort of it attracts the good crowds anyway. We have people message us as well saying, we'll see you there and stuff which builds up our conference a little bit. Ultimately it’s about the crowds and people getting to know our songs.”
That kind of must be one in a nice things as well as you start playing more and more and stuff that people do reach out to you as it’s a very sociable community in country music here.
“We feel very welcome. Even today, just looking out and we've seen a big group of people that we know from the UK country scene that have travelled about and got to know us, obviously we've got a few friends from home that have travelled to see us but as we're getting the following now, it is really humbling and really nice to see.”
“Count My Blessings” came out June and was the last track that you put out. Are we building towards any more stuff through the rest of the year? Is there anything else on the way?
“We are, we've got music that we're working on and we're very excited for you guys to hear it.”
Beyond that, you've done a lot of the big festivals now, so what are you building towards as goals for next year?
“We would love to do our own tour. We just want to keep releasing music, keep doing what we're doing, keep playing the festivals, get on the bigger stages with longer sets and just get our name out as much as possible.”
“That is a good question. A stage is good, so if it has a stage that is a good start ha-ha. I dunno, it’s good seeing like the car shows and the food vendors with like a smoker because it all feels part of that same scene isn’t it. I think if you've got that, if you've got decent stalls like clothes stalls and stuff like that, it just sort of it attracts the good crowds anyway. We have people message us as well saying, we'll see you there and stuff which builds up our conference a little bit. Ultimately it’s about the crowds and people getting to know our songs.”
That kind of must be one in a nice things as well as you start playing more and more and stuff that people do reach out to you as it’s a very sociable community in country music here.
“We feel very welcome. Even today, just looking out and we've seen a big group of people that we know from the UK country scene that have travelled about and got to know us, obviously we've got a few friends from home that have travelled to see us but as we're getting the following now, it is really humbling and really nice to see.”
“Count My Blessings” came out June and was the last track that you put out. Are we building towards any more stuff through the rest of the year? Is there anything else on the way?
“We are, we've got music that we're working on and we're very excited for you guys to hear it.”
Beyond that, you've done a lot of the big festivals now, so what are you building towards as goals for next year?
“We would love to do our own tour. We just want to keep releasing music, keep doing what we're doing, keep playing the festivals, get on the bigger stages with longer sets and just get our name out as much as possible.”
Yeah, like when you've got so much stuff and you want to play and play and play but you're only doing thirty to forty-five minutes so getting to go longer ties in with all of those goals.
“People are always telling us to get off ha-ha but it keeps the set interesting doesn't it, like one week we'll be playing for an hour and we'll be choosing but then it's like we've got half an hour next week, then we've got an hour and twenty the week after where it’s like what do we do so it keeps it fresh.”
Well, it’s great to meet you all and get to see you play so, I will let you get on the beers.
The latest track “Count My Blessings” from Wood Burnt Red is out now and available on all your usual streaming platforms. You can find details of any upcoming dates on their WEBSITE whilst you can keep up to date with all that they are up to socially over on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
This year’s Country Calling was a resounding success with next year’s event set to take place between the 14th and 16th of August so you can be the first to find out more details on their WEBSITE and relive all the 2025 highlights on INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK.
“People are always telling us to get off ha-ha but it keeps the set interesting doesn't it, like one week we'll be playing for an hour and we'll be choosing but then it's like we've got half an hour next week, then we've got an hour and twenty the week after where it’s like what do we do so it keeps it fresh.”
Well, it’s great to meet you all and get to see you play so, I will let you get on the beers.
The latest track “Count My Blessings” from Wood Burnt Red is out now and available on all your usual streaming platforms. You can find details of any upcoming dates on their WEBSITE whilst you can keep up to date with all that they are up to socially over on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK & FACEBOOK.
This year’s Country Calling was a resounding success with next year’s event set to take place between the 14th and 16th of August so you can be the first to find out more details on their WEBSITE and relive all the 2025 highlights on INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK.
