Austin Special: Woode Wood’s Live Music Ritual
Photo and Article by Charlie Gregory
On a hot spring morning, hundreds of students make their migration from the high rise apartments in West Campus to their classes at the University of Texas at Austin. The scent of coffee from food truck cafes fills the air, and you can hear the faint shuffle of feet against the pavement as students walk in silence, headphones jammed deep in their ears.
As they approach the main campus, the silence is broken by the plucking of a guitar and humming of a harmonica. The sound is familiar to students who regularly walk down West 23rd St., but even to students who have never heard the melodies will be quickly acquainted whether they seek to or not.
To say that Woode Wood- the elder gentleman who stands close to campus and plays his music every single morning- is an extravert, is an understatement. He’s a performer, and even though he isn’t playing for the crowds of thousands in Moody Center, he makes standing out and putting on a show his life's mission.
Woode knows most of the students by name. “Good morning, Preston,” Woode calls out as one student passes. In the short time I talked to him, he introduced me to other students, friends he has met as they pass along the way. “I’d like you to meet my new friend, Charlie,” he says as I awkwardly wave at my peers who know the street performer. Even though I just met Woode just 5 minutes prior, he goes out of his way to acquaint me to his world of these touch and go relationships.
Although he is now based in Austin, Woode has lived many lives all over the country before he settled in Texas in the 90s. I first imagined his excitement to be photographed by me as an opportunity to promote his music, but during our conversation he told me that he used to have experience with the world of journalism and photography. While I tried to focus my questions on his career, he couldn’t help but show interest in my future as a student. He did the same to the other passing students, wishing them luck on exams and giving advice about friendships or projects.
During each conversation, his hands never stopped strumming his guitar, and in between talking and breathing breaks, Woode returned his lips to the harmonica or belted out folkish lyrics. Although he says he doesn’t align to one source of inspiration or genre, his songs undeniably fit the Americana scene, mimicking similar sounds to Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan.
His original songs like “Blue to Me” and “Letter,” provoke deep and complex feelings of nostalgia, longing, and unrequited love, but his real life presence is almost antithetical, never letting down his smile and talking in a cheerful tone.
Woode has over two thousand subscribers on youtube, 800 followers on Instagram, and has been making music for three decades. While he hasn’t gained widespread success or a well-known status, his playing for the students, and the close connections he gets to make with them everyday is what keeps him playing. He’s outside every morning, rain or shine, eager to meet new faces and play his music just for the love of it.
Austin Texas is the live music capital of the world, and that doesn’t just encompass sold out shows or headliners at the Austin City Limits music festival. It’s smaller artists like Woode Wood that helped build that representation of the city. Austin proves that it doesn’t have to be a special occasion to hear a performance, and that just a simple walk to class can be met with the magic of live vocals, friendly hellos, and the chance to hear something new.