Beth Wood - Marigolds CD Review
From Joy Johnston,
Your Guide to Atlanta, GA.
Guide Rating -Beth Wood is a talented Texas singer-songwriter who has played at many of Atlanta's most lauded live music venues.
Beth Wood opens her album Marigolds with the alt-country twang of "1500 Times" with the memorable chorus of "Every now and then, Someone Comes Along/Opens your mind just a little bit/They climb inside your head like an old country song/And it hits you where you live." This would be an accurate theme for Wood's entire album. The Texas singer-songwriter has woven together a multi-layered album full of songs about family, love, and life, with a real warmth and sincerity missing in much of modern music.
Marigolds was recorded in Asheville, North Carolina, but the recording has at least one Atlanta connection. Shawn Mullins provides background vocals on "Church of Melody." Wood has toured extensively in the metro Atlanta area, including performances at Smith's Olde Bar, Eddie's Attic, and local universities like Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern.
Wood is classically trained in piano, violin, harp, and voice. It shows, in the rich harmonies and multi-layered arrangements that work so beautifully on the album. Not only is Wood professionally trained in music, but she also earned a degree in Literature from the University of Texas. She's definitely no slouch when it comes to songwriting- all 13 songs are written by Wood, and there's no shortage of memorable lines.
On the title track, Wood hauntingly sings, "And now I'm standing next to vapors in the shape of you/And I miss you much too much to ever breathe in." On "Hurricane Caroline," Wood proclaims, "She'll tell you she's a natural disaster."
Throughout the album, Wood makes references to family connections that are obviously heartfelt and important in her life. "Little Hands" is one of the strongest songs on the album, with the catchy line, "We've all got big plans/And Little Hands." It's not all love and happiness, though. Wood is not afraid to explore the darker side of life, as in the lonely bitterness of lost love in "Good for You," where she whispers, "Is she good for you, well, good for you."
Though there are no shortage of talented female folk rock singers, Beth Wood definitely stands tall in the crowd with this impressive release.
