Off in the Woods | Smoke Signals
Published: January 6, 2012
It's always interesting to listen to Montana-inspired music. Songs seem to teem with references to Big Sky Country, being away from it, trying to get back to it, reveling in it. This first effort, from some young Polson men who call themselves Off in the Woods, is no exception.
Fronted by talented vocalist/guitarist Jon Schumaker, the four-piece band plays its way through nine self-penned tunes, all but one by him. Schumaker is joined by Sean Burress, bass and guitar, Layne McKay, sax and guitar, and Nathan Noble, drums.
The fellows are several years removed from Polson High School, having attended there together. They went their separate ways for awhile, but then came back home and decided to get serious about forming a band.
The songs are lengthy, yet the lyrics are simple expressions, wrapped around Schumaker's dynamic vocal presence. He has a habit of repeating lyric lines and phrases, sometimes just words, and embellishing them with dips and bends and wails, to stunning effect. He sounds a bit like ex-Doobie Brother Michael McDonald, already possessing outstanding control.
Background chatter opens the first piece, the slowly thoughtful "Place to Ponder," with its echo-y effects and bluesy vocal bent. "A Man and His Guitar" has strummy, sustained guitar chords, thick bass and cool drums ("My guitar has no soul of its own, so I give it mine on a short-term loan").
The title song, "Smoke Signals," is syncopated and jazzy, cool and percussive. It recounts the urgency of getting out of the city, being called home by Montana's lure ("Montana fired-up").
Burress's composition, "Turquoise Trail," is the lone instrumental; it's bluesy, with an almost Latin feel, peppered with great sax and percussion that weave around a simple melody.
"Aspen Grove" is sweetly country, romantic. And the boys channel the seminal spaghetti western on "The Good, the Bad, the Dubly." How fun! It's moody and minor-keyed, reggae-fied, with high vocal wails, chunky sax honks, squirrelly electric guitar, muscular bass … Yowza! I smell a hit.
The group frequently gets into a jam-band frame of mind on their tunes, but the instrumentation is so good and Schumaker's voice so powerful, the music continues to appeal. Besides, dancers like that.
Production is sparse and wonderful. McKay attended engineering and recording school in Arizona and interned for engineer Robert Lang at his Seattle studio, and through that connection Off in the Woods got to record this CD there. Watch for more good stuff from these guys.
– Mariss McTucker
