Description
‘Winterwood’ is JFJO’s final studio album with founding member and bassist Reed Mathis. Recorded at Winterwood Recording Studio in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas in 2008, Mathis left the band shortly after tracking the LP resulting in the record being left in the vaults and previously unavailable until now.
While there was a high level of friction among band members at the time, the kinetic energy only added to the electrifying results. Indeed, Mathis felt like the sessions captured JFJO at their creative and experimental peak.
With time on his hands in 2020 following the cancelation of tour dates and session work due to the pandemic, Mathis dusted off the audio and remixed the album from scratch.
The line-up at the time of the recording, included JFJO’s other founding member Brian Haas on keys and the recent addition of Josh Raymer on drums. Each track began by recording Haas solo on acoustic piano. After initiating the song’s melodic theme, the band would later overdub additional parts in full electric mode on top of Haas’ piano track. As each instrumental part was layered into the recording, the player adding his parts was conducted by another member in a truly collaborative process. Mathis would pour over the album in post production, overdubbing additional nuances and gems deep in the mixes.
