Woods Tea Co.

Artist Information

Biography

After building a solid reputation in New England, Wood’s Tea Company started touring on the concert circuit nationwide, eventually playing in all of the lower 48 states. Notable performances include New York’s Lincoln Center (twice), the Chautauqua Institute (three times), appearances on PBS and national Public Radio, who labeled them “Vermont’s hardest working folk group”

Folk Music Quarterly described them as ‘…one of the hottest up and coming acts,” saying “…sidestepping pretension and going for the grit, this New England group gives a lusty performance, every time.” A few years ago, the Irish Heritage Foundation honored the group with their “Outstanding Innovation Award “…in appreciation and recognition for their creative contributions to Irish music.”

Instrumentation

Howard Wooden: Vocals, bass, guitar, bodhran
Tom MacKenzie: Vocals, hammered dulcimer, banjo, guitar, ukulele
Patti Casey: Vocals, guitar, flute, pennywhistle, and clogboard

Discography

A complete list of our many CD's and Videos is available for preview on:
http://cdbaby.com/all/hwooden

Official Website

http://woodstea.net

Links

• Facebook
• Woods Tea Website

Audio

• For No Good Reason At All
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• Down From Canada
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• The Dutchman
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• Sink The Cheerio
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• The Old Dun Cow/Star of Munster/Temperance Reel
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• A Dog's Complaint
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• Glencoe Schottische/Lord Of The Dance
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• Handsome Patrick
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Video

WTPromo4

Photo Gallery

Press

• DVD Review MArch 2009 [+ Show ]
  

  By ART EDELSTEIN Arts Correspondent ermont's popular folk music quartet Woods Tea Co. recently rele...By ART EDELSTEIN Arts Correspondent
  ermont's popular folk music quartet Woods Tea Co. recently released its first-ever CD/DVD
  album, "A Lively Evening With." This combo release is a must-purchase for fans and those who
  enjoy pure, unencumbered folk music.
  Woods Tea Co. has a long performing history. I'm not sure how far back the band goes into
  the 1980s but it, along with Banjo Dan and the Mid-nite Plowboys, are two of the longestrunning
  Vermont folk acts.
  Two summers ago Woods Tea lost a founding member Rusty Jacobs to an untimely death.
  That was a hard blow to the band as Jacobs was a fine singer, band luminary and
  whistle/guitar-player. His was a hard slot to fill. The band soldiered on for a year with fill-in
  musicians. Late last spring the band announced that East Montpelier singer-songwriter Patti
  Casey would join, thus becoming the band's first female member.
  On this new live album/DVD we hear and see what a smart choice Casey's inclusion was. The
  performance recorded and filmed at the Barre Opera House early last fall is excellent with both
  superb sound and video production.
  Casey, who most recently was the only woman in the Bluegrass Gospel Project, again
  surrounds herself with men, and stands out for both her talent and her ability to fend off all
  the testosterone. Here she joins band founders Mike Lussen and Howard Wooden, and Calais'
  Tom MacKenzie. After years as a Chittenden County-based band, Woods Tea Co. is now firmly
  based in Washington County as well.
  The CD on this album is 15 tracks long. The DVD includes 21 tracks. There is well over two
  hours of entertainment here, and all of it is worth spending the time to listen to and watch.
  Woods Tea Co. is one of the few bands that have retained the "folk" in folk music. The band
  eschews trends that combine folk roots with pop themes or other more contemporary musical
  styles.
  Here we have guitar, acoustic bass, hammered dulcimer, clawhammer banjo, bouzouki and
  flute/whistle instrumentation. The singing is tight and harmonious. The themes range from sea
  chantey to Irish ballad along with fine contemporary material from both Casey and MacKenzie
  and other writers.
  I liken this band to its precursors such as the Kingston Trio, Brothers Four and the Dubliners.
  With Casey the band has a new and excellent voice, a fine songwriter, and a
  flute/whistle/guitar player who also clogs. Her presence on stage gives the band a more
  inclusive look. Her male cohorts never overpower her, nor is she there as eye candy. Casey is
  a savvy performer who knows how to cleverly tone down what might otherwise be a more
  "salty" and less sophisticated male presentation.
  The band also knows how to best use a woman's presence. Casey sings the brilliant Pete
  Sutherland penned "Sink the Cheerio" a song about toilet training a young boy. Casey, who
  has a son of her own, delivers this clever lyric deadpan.
  Woods Tea knows it is not at its core an instrumental band. This is not the Duhks, for
  instance. But, it does use its members to the best of their ability. MacKenzie is the strongest
  instrumentalist and he gets the lion's share of the melodic work. Wooden is a solid bass
  accompanist while Lussen and Casey provide strong rhythm on guitar and bouzouki. What we
  have is a quartet that won't overpower the listener with any player's singular brilliance;
  instead we get a strong team effort. The result is a very pleasing overall sound.
  The DVD shows how well the band works as a unit, surprising since Casey was such a recent
  addition to the lineup. There are no awkward moments and the show was virtually flawless.
  The band recently finished a West Coast tour, the first with Casey on board. I'm not sure how
  well-known they are beyond New England, but if this CD/DVD is an example of their abilities
  they should gain a far-reaching fan base.
  There are too few groups today whose music retains the elements of simplicity, harmony and
  good taste as well the Woods Tea Co. does. "A Lively Evening With" is an excellent example of
  how good a band can sound in a singular performance.

• Pacifica, CA Show Review - MArch 2009 [+ Show ]
  

  If you took Emmylou Harris, Garrison Keillor mixed with Kenny Rankin, Doc Watson and Everett Ulysses...If you took Emmylou Harris, Garrison Keillor mixed with Kenny Rankin, Doc Watson and Everett Ulysses McGill – changed their names and their faces but kept that certain something that kept sending you back to compare them to the aforementioned well then, you’d pretty much have Patti Casey, Howard Wooden, Mike Lussen and Tom MacKenzie OR the members of the very talented, Woods Tea Company. Here’s a list of some of the instruments they know their virtuosic way around. Patti Casey on vocals, including yodel, guitar, flute, pennywhistle and clogboard. Howard Wooden on vocals, bass, guitar and bodhran. Mike Lussen on vocals, five string banjo, bodhran, bouzouki and guitar. Tom MacKenzie on vocals, hammered dulcimer, banjo, guitar and ukulele. They played Saturday night at Pacifica Performances. They did traditionals like “This Little Light Of Mine,” “The Cat Came Back,” “There Were Roses” and “Glencoe Schottische.” They did songs from their own individual compositional notebooks like “Ghost of Pekin Brook” and “My Monday” (Tom MacKenzie), “Handsome Patrick” and “Old Man” (Patti Casey). They told silly stories between songs and made their audience answer geography questions, clap in time and sing choruses, loudly. They even made their audience tear up when their 4-part harmonies layered notes like four lilies on the water. They are so extraordinarily worth seeing and hearing (yes, you might also catch them on NPR) that my advice is to fly out of your lounge chair and get yourself a ticket to these fun-making toe-tappers who roll out music like a dream.

Setlist

WOODS TEA COMPANY
Note: We always include material from the Celtic and French Canadian Traditions, Bluegrass, Sea Shanties, and traditional American folk as well as original material. While most of the material is songs with lyrics, we always include a number of fiery instrumental tune medleys in each set. Our material and sets change from show to show, audience to audience, and season to season, by the holiday etc. For St. Patrick’s Day concerts, for example, we infuse a majority of Irish-related material, and for Christmas, we have a large amount of specific material, and so forth. We also try to respond to the current times and circumstances. For example we've just re-added a great song called "The High Cost of Living, " which generates a great deal of enthusiasm currently. We might as well laugh or we’d all be crying! Our bottom line is that we are very flexible, depending on the wishes of the presenters.

Set 1.
Spotted Pony/Sugar Hill (Traditional)
The Country Life (Traditional)
Old Woman/ Ten Penny Bit (Traditional)
Gander In The Subble (Patti Casey)/Hangman’s Reel (Traditional)
For No Good Reason At All (Edwards)
The Cat Came Back (Traditional)
Dear Doris (Traditional)
Sink The Cheerio (Pete Sutherland)
Glencoe Schottische (Traditional)
Lord Of The Dance (Traditional)
Dick Gossups/Silver Spear: (Traditional)
Give Me Just A Little More Time (Estil C. Ball)

Set 2.
Star Of The County Down (Traditional)
The Dutchman (M. Smith)
The Bricklayer (Traditional)
Deportee (Guthrie)
The Fox (Traditional)
Handsome Patrick (Patti Casey)
Reel St. Jean/Saratoga/Golden Wedding (All Traditional)
Alberta Bound (Lightfoot)
Encore: I’m Getting Ready To Go (Traditional)

Basic Requirements

PDF Rider

Woods Tea Rider

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