- Bryon Harris
Willow and Wood - 'Kindling for a Fire'
Written by Reviewer Victoria Scott & Staff
Willow and Wood are a hypnotic duo that get high marks for the melodic sensibilities, melancholy notes, and genuine folk Americana style. “Kindling For a Fire” from their Tornadoes in My Head introduces the listener to a dismal world of mysterious beauty and suspense.
Songwriter Willow Scrivner has haunting vocals, similar in vibe to Stevie Nicks, and songwriter Kevin Wood’s melodic acoustic guitar and entrancing electric guitar complement her vocals flawlessly. The heavy bass drum and burly bass set the scene as the vocals devour each line emulating the power of someone's touch in the thawing of cold and darkness on the first day of spring. Producer Dexter Green is masterful at painting a musical landscape that captures the place where body meets soul and nature meets humanity.
“Kindling For a Fire” uses the analogy of a small flame to describe someone coming out of a cold, dark place into the healing spring. The Kindling is a kiss that serves as kindling to someone's dry emotional bones that could easily set on fire. The lyricism is fiercely intelligent.
“First day of spring, littered with blackened trees, Coming out of the dark, What ya gonna do with me?, What ya you gonna do with me?, June is nearly gone, The ground is soft and warm, Your kiss is like kindling for a fire.”
The line "What ya gonna do with me?" simulates the emotional uncertainty of coming out of a long winter.. The intensity of a kiss is like "kindling for a fire," because if the kiss leaves, the fire will turn to ash. If the kiss stays, it will burn. The lyrics can be interpreted many ways, but the feeling of heartache and yearning is undeniable.
“You were burned to the bone, honey, Never coming home.”
Willow & Wood are geniuses at externalizing an emotion using symbolic imagery that gets under your skin. “Kindling For a Fire” is wickedly haunting and beautiful beyond description. The instrumentation and the vocals progress fiercely from the stroke of the first chord lighting a musical fire that burns long after you hear it. Their ambient and deep somber style hits you at the core and leaves a lasting impression.
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For more information, visit Willow & Wood's website.
About Willow and Wood
Vocalist/songwriter Willow Scrivner met guitarist/songwriter Kevin Wood at small Seattle venue called the Dubliner. It was one of those moments every musician longs for, an immediate connection of lyric and music that left Scrivner rattled. (“I cried after the first time we played together,” she confessed, “no one had ever heard my songs that way.”) The two played their first show together at Bumbershoot, then immediately began touring. They began releasing music that made them critical darlings in The Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly, Performing Songwriter and many others. They soon married – and found themselves growing tired of the grey of the Emerald City.