And now for something completely different. It's been a while since anyone in the land of the long white cloud paid homage to the likes of Woody Guthrie or black song-makers like Mance Lipscomb.
But that's what makes Auckland's Will Wood so different, and the music he's made for
Magpie Brain & Other Stories.
The premise of this style of music is that it tells a story, often an unpleasant one, a tale that reveals itself within the three minutes or so dedicated to it. Like Woody Guthrie and Mance Lipscomb, Will Wood is uncompromising in his approach.
Sometimes that makes for dark songs, spare and reflective of a life hard travelled. Other times it's wry, and even joyful, like Wood's version of the traditional tune John Henry.
It's also appropriate that Will Wood has spent weeks on the road these past couple of years, so had plenty of opportunities to magpie his way around new material.
