CONCERT REVIEW: THE WOOD BROTHERS AT LOWELL SUMMER MUSIC SERIES

Joanna Gleason
Aug 15
3 min read

On August 8, 2025, Lowell Summer Music Series welcomed The Wood Brothers. Many fans were present to participate at the outside concert. It was an exceptional night of music.

The show started at 7:30 p.m. with Mason Via. A former member of Old Crow Medicine Show, Mason Via - an American singer-songwriter and guitarist - grew up in Southern Virginia and North Carolina. Via released his debut self-released solo album Up, Up, Up, in 2015. The album was produced by Mountains Fever Records. In 2022, Mason released his second studio album New Horizons followed by the release of a self-titled album in 2025.

Via and Old Crow Medicine Show were nominated for a Grammy Award for the album Jubilee. Songs written by Via have been covered by the Del McCoury Band on their album Almost Proud and by Molly Tuttle on her album City of Gold. Via’s song “Oh Lordy Me” featuring Ronnie Bowman and Junior Sick was named by Billboard as a “must-hear new country song.”

Via opened for I’m With Her on the band’s Wild and Clear and Blue tour in 2025. He headlined the Levitt AMP Sheboygan Music Series in Sheboygan, Wisconsin on July 3, 2025. Reviewing Via’s 2025 self-titled album, The Aquarian Weekly, said its tracks “exemplify modern bluegrass as its best.” Of the same album, Bluegrass Today said, “it’s a credit to Via’s skill and Savvy that he’s been able to maintain such a high bar.”

Via’s performance at Lowell Summer Music Series 2025 proved that growing up with a bluegrass dad, the artist full of talent, both vocally and instrumentally, could explain why he is a three time winner of the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival band competition.

At 9:00 p.m. after a brief intermittence, The Wood Brothers hit the stage. The American roots band consisting of brothers Chris (upright bass) and Olivier Wood (acoustic and electric guitars) as well as multi-instrumentalist Jano Rix were terrific during their entire night of performance. Their music is a combination of folk, gospel, blues and jazz.

They opened the set with Pray God Listens from their most recent album, 2023’s Sterling Heart is the Hero; the set continued with many other successful songs such as Sky High – Witness – Rollin’s On – The Trick – Little Bit Sweet…

The Wood Brothers released their first studio album Ways Not to Lose in 2006. The album was produced by Chris’s MMW Colleague John Medeski and recorded during September 2005 at Allaire Studios in Shokan, New York. In 2008, the group released their second studio album Loaded. The next year, they released an Ep of covers titled Up Above My Head. In 2012, they released Live Volume One: Sky High and Live Volume Two: Nail & Tooth, issued as two separate Cds.

In October 2013, The Wood Brothers’ fifth studio album The Muse was released with Buddy Miller serving as record producer. The album provided the band with their first Billboard chart success, hitting the folk, country, indie and rock charts in late 2013.

The band’s sixth album, Paradise was released in 2015 on the Easy Eye Sound label. Paradise was the first album in which all three band members shared song writing credits. It was their most successful album to reach number 1 on the Top HeatSeekers chart, and number 12 on the US Country music chart.

On February 2, 2018, The Wood Brothers released their full length album, One Drop of Truth. The album was nominated for the Best Americana Album Award at the 61th Grammy Awards. The group released their eighth studio album, Kingdom in My Mind in January 2020 and their ninth Studio album, Heart is the Hero in April 2023.

During Lowell Summer Music Series 2025 The Wood Brothers played with passion, emotion, feeling and excitement. The group gave an exceptional performance during the entire night of the outside concert.