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The Woods
Ryan Blotnick
Label: Fishkill Records
Released: 2026
Duration: 00:47:22
Views: 15
Tracks
The Magic; Pecao; Cuyo; Neptuno 2000; Two Lights; Subnivean: The Woods; Smokey Corners; Lurvey Spring;
Personnel
Album Description
Genre: modern jazz
CD/Vinyl LP/Bandcamp/Hi-Res Streaming & Downloads Available in 24 bit / 96khz
On The Woods, his new album of original compositions, East-coast-based guitarist Ryan Blotnick presents a varied set comprised of hummable tunes, soundscapes and quiet anthems. Recorded “live” in one room at The Woods recording studio in Woodstock, this album captures the subtle dynamics of jazz in the recording style of the great Blue Note albums of the 60s. For his fourth full-band album, the spotlight is on Ryan’s glistening guitar melodies, ensconced in the inventive counterlines and harmonies of pianist and organist Tyler G Wood (Glass Ghost, Joan as Police Woman). The rhythm section of bassist Adam Chilenski (Kolumbo, Here We Go Magic) and drummer Otto Hauser (The War on Drugs, Vetiver, Cass McCombs) share a common love of jazz, with roots in rock and psychedelia. They approach the music with a deep emotional resonance, exploring slow tempos and odd-meter playing in a refreshingly elegant way.
Blotnick has released three acclaimed releases on Songlines (Music Needs You, 2007, Everything Forgets, 2009 and Kush, 2016) and a self-released solo guitar record (Solo, Volume 1, 2012) which was praised by the New York Times for its “intensely thoughtful design”. After 10 years in New York, he returned to his home state of Maine in 2015, where he has since become part of a vibrant local music scene with collaborators like Mali Obomsawin, the Soulbenders, Danny Fisher-Lochhead and songwriter Katherine Perkins.
The Woods was born out of a long-distance musical relationship with Wood and Hauser, who live in the Hudson Valley. Blotnick often traveled to Wood’s Sauce Farm Studio in Catskill to work on scores for films like Knock Down the House and To the End. The long hours in the studio fostered a close connection between the three, as they explored the layering of strings, synthesizers and horns, making minimalistic music to be felt more than to be heard. Meanwhile, they formed projects with Hauser that explored meditative and psychedelic jazz, touring regionally until they were disrupted by the pandemic. This project picks up where those left off, with the addition of Adam Chilenski, an old friend and collaborator who Ryan had reconnected with after he quit his day job to double-down on music.
Among the influences for The Woods Blotnick cites guitarists Wes Montgomery (“Cuyo”), Grant Green (“Smokey Corners”), Kurt Rosenwinkel (“Two Lights”), Neil Young (“Lurvey Spring”) and Marc Ribot (“Snowfields”) with hints of Bill Frisell throughout. “Pecao” and “Cuyo” were written in Mexico’s Yucatán, the former inspired by the local music and the latter by the stillness of a sea swept fishing town surrounded by cattle ranches. The melody of “Lurvey Spring” bubbled up to Ryan almost fully formed on a winter hike in Acadia National Park. “Snowfields” is named after a treacherous ski slope where one slip-up will land a skier in the trees.
As for the album title, besides being the name of the studio, The Woods evokes the place where Blotnick spent his formative years chasing streams and building forts. To Blotnick, “the woods is a place where everything is deeply inter-connected - even if it appears disconnected on the surface. The above ground is a dangerous place for most living things. But in the subnivean level, a whole world exists beneath the snow, connecting to underground tunnels and fungal networks. Likewise, in music there is a conscious level where musicians interact intentionally in a more extroverted arena. At the same time, we are interacting on a subconscious level, adjusting dynamics, blending, and having each other’s backs. This kind of deep listening and collectivism is what makes music such a powerful force.”
With its live feel, The Woods captures this collective energy, particularly in the freely improvised tracks “Subnivean,”“Neptuno 2000,” and the introduction to “The Magic”.
Press support/questions: Ryan Blotnick, [email protected], (646) 732-8761
Fishkill Records - www.dannyfisherlochhead.com/fishkill-records
Album uploaded by Ryan Blotnick
