Cleveland singer/songwriter
Doug Wood debuted his style of barebones acoustic instrumental music on
I Am Kiroc, a ten-song offering on which he performs complex and diverse guitar instrumentals. On some tracks he performs on a six-string guitar, while he uses a 12-string guitar on others. Darren Frate appears on bass on more than half the album. The disc begins with "Hull's Triumph," a modestly festive instrumental.
Wood's guitar work had been strengthened by traveling across the United States to perform his style of acoustic folk in coffeeshops and bookstores. This disc shows his musical maturation. The upbeat tones on "Sophie's Song" quickly give way to the more contemplative and subdued tones on "10:00." The songs are all simple and short, with only one of the songs clocking in at over four minutes. The repetitious "Down and Out" is soon followed by the intricate "Wait Up." "Juggling With Clifford" and "I Am Not a Cookie" are, not surprisingly, some of the more upbeat and jovial tracks on the disc.
I Am Kiroc was released on Watts Gnu Records in 2000. ~ Stephen Cramer