Rachel Virnig
Alex Reilly (from left), Justin Johnson and Griffin Pett will play 31 shows in 12 states.
Blending country, punk and psychedelic music into a frenetic sonic steam engine, young Madison trio Wood Chickens have quickly become a vital part of the city’s local scene.
Started in 2009 in Milton when members Alex Reilly and Griffin Pett were in high school, Wood Chickens took early inspiration from Reilly’s father’s record collection, with the Byrds serving as an introduction to both country and psych. After years of experimenting with sounds and honing their songwriting partnership, Wood Chickens sprouted wings when the pair moved to Madison in 2013 and began gigging around town.
Reilly and Pett were eager to find an audience, but lacked a regular drummer. Earlier this year, they enlisted recent Nashville transplant Justin Johnson, who had just spent a year on the road with Nashville rockabilly act Jane Rose & the Deadend Boys and was looking for a Madison band that shared his love of fast, upbeat country music.
“It was everything I wanted,” says Johnson, who originally hails from Leland, Wis., an unincorporated community in Sauk County. He felt an immediate connection to Wood Chickens after hearing their off-kilter old school tunes via a Craigslist ad.
Having been groomed to be a musician since childhood by his grandfather and great-uncle, Johnson expresses a deep appreciation for the camaraderie that being in a band offers. “Life gets intense as you get older,” he says. “It gets more real, and so does the music.”
With six months under their belt as a trio, Wood Chickens are primed to share their “cowpunk” sound around the country. They will depart on an extensive tour of the American heartland through October following a Sept. 26 send-off show at Mickey’s Tavern. They are scheduled for 31 shows in 12 states, stretching from the Dakotas and Colorado to Texas and Missouri.
The band members are excited to show their versatility in all settings, including houses, coffee shops, bars and martini lounges. Some shows will require the self-described “caffeine cowboys” to play three sets a night. “We’re really getting the opportunity to expand,” says Reilly, the group’s guitarist and vocalist. “We’ll be sort of opening up for ourselves, doing an acoustic set of some old country tunes, some psych jamming and then some harder punk stuff.”
Drawing influences from “all corners of the map,” Wood Chickens’ “punked up” roots vibe should serve them well on the road, as Reilly and Pett make their first trip to the South, the heart of country and cowpunk.
Wood Chickens are thriving at home as well. They released two full-length albums in 2014: Razzmatazz and Have a Cow. They are also part of a compilation album from local zine Toothtaker and are set to release a limited-edition live cassette via Madison tape label Rare Plant.
Reilly says there is much in his future that is uncertain. But, he adds, “One thing for sure is that I just want to keep playing in this band.”
