Building a fire

The sensual, spacious sounds of The Bird and the Bear returned to Saratoga Sept. 11 and the Saratoga Sun took some time to talk with the duo about their roots and life in Music City, Nashville, Tenn.

Wood grew up in the North Platte Valley, leaving in 2008 to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass. Bolhuis is a native of Groningen, Holland a large, college town with a population of almost 200,000.

The pair met in 2011 at a hostel in Nashville as they were pursuing solo musical careers. That chance meeting lit the musical and romantic sparks that led to their most recent EP, "Build a Fire."

"There was instant chemistry," Wood said of meeting his now wife Bolhuis. "Before we were dating I was giving her guitar lessons," Wood said with Bolhuis interrupting, "one," "I gave her one guitar lesson," Wood conceded.

Guitar lesson out of the way, they started dating and Bolhuis started singing harmonies on an EP Wood was recording.

Shortly after, the pair went to see Allison Krauss, in celebration of Bolhuis' birthday, driving from Tennessee to North Carolina and they came up with the name The Bird and the Bear on the way.

At the time they met, Wood had left Berkelee, where he had decided to work on songwriting as much as his guitar playing because, he "felt like everybody at the college was a guitarist." Bolhuis had already made several short trips to Nashville from Holland to develop her career.

In 2011 Gillian Welch and David Rawlings had just released "The Harrow and the Harvest," and album of male-female duets recorded live in the studio. "In a way we were really inspired by that," Wood said. Welch and Rawlings are strong influences that can be heard in The Bird and the Bear, partly because of the same duet structure, but also in the visceral nature of the close harmonies. Welch and Rawlings live recordings inspired The Bird and the Bear to record "Build a Fire" live in just three hours.

Bolhuis is a devotee of Allison Krauss, another strong female voice in the bluegrass world. In fact, Bolhuis' long-time band in Holland was Note to Allison, which performed Krauss covers. Pop music has also been an influence toward her love for American music and language, starting from the age of 14 Bolhuis said.

Wood said he sees his wife's use of English, a second language for her, show up in Bolhuis' songwriting by her choice of words and imagery, adding a certain poetry to the duo's work together. "It's really fresh," Wood said, adding Bolhuis' writing reflects homesickness and travel.

Possibly because of their chosen arrangements based mostly on guitar and mandolin, there is an openness to the music of The Bird and the Bear that Wood said he had not really considered before. "I guess I've never seen our music like that, as being open. It does make sense. I think it might come (because) the format of every show we play is a duo," Wood said.

That openness is reminiscent of high mountain air and the wide open vistas of Wyoming. Wood said he feels growing up in the west influences his songwriting more from and aesthetic standpoint than a lyrical or melodic way.

Living in Nashville presents somewhat of a stark contrast to the Platte Valley for Wood. He said he likes life in Nashville although he finds traffic and traffic lights frustrating, understandable as a man coming from a valley where stop lights are still not in use.

Bolhuis said she is inspired by the mountain air and serenity of Wyoming. "Here you can just sit down and write and just look over the mountains. In Nashville there is so much going on you get distracted really easily," Bolhuis said.

As a young songwriting duo, Music City is an inspiring place to be. The pair glowed as they talked about running into David Rawlings playing pool with Dawes at a local bar, sitting next to John Prine at a Jason Isbell concert and Wood getting to park Dave Clark's car when he was a valet.

"At this very early stage of our careers, we're juxtaposed with these titans, our heroes ... it's really motivating," Wood said, adding, "Nothing tops living in the same city as the music we worship."

Looking towards the future The Bird and the Bear have their eye on more supporting act shows, getting on to the festival scene and finishing their next recording by the end of this year.

They also hope to be back in Wyoming without letting a year go by next time. The pair said they may even be back as soon as January. Wood added, with a wink, "weather permitting."