After reading about Ellis' collaboration with Kristian Bush on this song my first instinct was that Little Wood Guitar was a song that would be a sweet soft little song that would work really well around the holidays, perhaps due to the news that Sugarland was releasing it on a bonus Christmas cd.
Imagine my surprise, first when I realized Ellis was about to play it live at Eddie's Attic last week, then when Ellis dove into the song in all it's folk rock intensity. I was floored by the song, and Ellis' performance of it, so different from what i had expected the song to sound like.
After the show, my wife commented that it had been awhile since she had seen Ellis so animated onstage. He really was into it that night, and I knew right away what she was trying to say. I chalked it up to him being back at Eddie's Attic, a home away from home of sorts for Ellis.
Late in the set, Ellis pulled up a stool and half leaning against it rather than sitting atop it told the crowd he was going to do a song cowritten with Kristian Bush of the country group Sugarland called Little Wood Guitar. I was in heaven, folks. At last I get to hear it live and in person. By the time Ellis reached the chorus I was thinking...WOW!!! Was I ever wrong about this song!!! It's not the soft seasonal holiday song I thought it was going to be.
I'd found the youtube of Little Wood Guitar by Sugarland a few days later, and honestly had trouble making the connection to the song Ellis performed that night and the recorded version by Sugarland. It's like it's two completely different songs, but I'm sure alot of that has to do with the tempo and Ellis' dynamic performance of the song that night.
So, yeah, I'm with everyone hoping this song does well for Sugarland and sells a gazillion copies........also that Ellis' version folk rocks!!!
