DEL NORTE — Wildwood Sounds, 850 Grande Ave., Del Norte, presents Eric Brace, Peter Cooper and Thomm Jutz, featuring Americana Folk, Alt-Country, Roots Rock, on Friday, July 27th at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20. Call 657-4757 or see wildwoodsounds.com.

This is a sweets/snacks potluck. Bring a snack to share. Coffee and tea are on the house.

?”There is a familiar sound in the music of Eric Brace, Peter Cooper and Thomm Jutz, that being both Chuck Pyle and the Rifters.” — Wildwood Sounds

Grammy nominees Eric Brace & Peter Cooper have created a body of work that reflects their journalistic sensibilities, a love of harmony and wry humor, and their deep respect for the masters they’ve played with.

The new trio Eric Brace, Peter Cooper & Thomm Jutz is not really new at all.

Eric and Peter have recorded and toured together for almost a decade now, and their last two albums were recorded in Thomm’s studio, with Thomm in the role as recording engineer, producer, guitarist, and harmony singer. Whenever they could, they’ve taken Thomm on the road, a sideman extraordinaire whose sublime flatpicking guitar style elevates anything Thomm weaves it into. But Eric and Peter knew that Thomm was also a world class songwriter, and they kept twisting his arm to take front-and-center during their shows and sing a few of his own compositions.  It was only a matter of time before the duo-into-trio transformation became official. It was a matter of making a record. Which they’ve now done. As a trio.

Eric, Peter, and Thomm each has something distinct and slightly skewed to say about the world, and when they bring their singular perspectives to the trio table, it’s a perfect example of a whole being much greater than the sum of its parts. And what parts they are!

Eric and Peter were nominated for a Grammy for producing I Love: Tom T. Hall’s Songs of Fox Hollow, their 2011 release on Red Beet Records that featured them, along with Patti Griffin, Bobby Bare, Jim Lauderdale, Duane Eddy, and Tom T. Hall himself, all reprising tunes from his classic kids record of 1974, Songs of Fox Hollow.

Thomm has produced, engineered, and played on the last two Brace-Cooper albums, The Comeback Album, and C&O Canal, as well as Peter Cooper’s last solo release, Depot Light: Songs of Eric Taylor.

Thomm’s spectacular guitar playing has added a virtuosic dimension to Eric and Peter’s live performances and arrangements, while his harmonies and lead singing add vocal richness to the shows.

Thomm is also one of the most successful songwriters in the bluegrass world, having charted five #1 bluegrass chart hits over the past year (as recorded by Shawn Camp, Irene Kelly, and Chris Jones & the Night Drivers), and has had ten more compositions in the bluegrass radio top twenty.

Together, Eric, Peter, and Thomm weave stories, songs, harmonies, and guitar playing into something very special. The lyrics are as thoughtful as those of their heroes, a list that includes John Prine, John Hartford, Kris Kristofferson, Tom T. Hall, Paul Simon, and Townes Van Zandt. Add harmonies that bring to mind the Seldom Scene, Emmylou Harris, and the Everly Brothers, and sumptuous guitar arrangements, and you have a truly memorable evening of music.

Caption: Enjoy a mixture of Americana Folk, Alt-Country and Roots Rock on July 27 at Wildwood Sounds in Del Norte./Courtesy photo