Following UK Southern rock four-piece Wood Burnt Red’s release of their debut album, Hold On Tight, and the announcement that they will be special guests on Parker Barrow’s UK tour this winter, comes more live appearance news alongside a radio edit of ‘Count My Blessings’ out now as a single.
Wood Burnt Red have a busy early 2027 ahead. Not only will they be performing at Planet Rock’s Winter’s End Festival on Thursday 28th January, but they’ve just been confirmed as special guests on Danielle Nicole’s UK tour taking place from 17th to 21st February.
“‘Count My Blessings’ is about the battle with addiction,” said Wood Burnt Red’s lead singer and guitarist, Tom Franklin, regarding the new single. “Addiction is a constant battle even after the habit is kicked. The urges don’t just go away, hence the saying once an addict, always an addict. It’s a constant fight. It’s about the feeling of ‘Right, I’ve stopped it now, so why don’t I feel better? Why am I not fixed? Why don’t I feel normal’ and trying to find that reason to feel whole again.”
“Addiction is often seen as the devil’s work, as though you have sold your soul. Getting clean can therefore feel like a second chance, and some people thank God for it. Whether the addiction involves alcohol, drugs or gambling, the urges do not simply disappear. You have to find healthier ways to cope.”
A colourful chord sequence opens what proves to be a hard driving country rocker wherein intimate deep vocals meditate on the subject of addiction, with questions rather than any absolute epiphanies then being offered on appealing higher-end middle-eights and choruses.
Hook heavy while avoiding over-preachiness, Wood Burnt Red’s new single, ‘Count My Blessings’, looks worth taking a bet on having strong crossover mainstream appeal.
‘Count My Blessings (Radio Edit)’ is available on all streaming platforms now, and you can check out the lyric video below.
‘Count My Blessings (Radio Edit)’ is the band’s third single, following in the wake of ‘Best Things’. Wood Burnt Red’s second single proved a funkier, off-kilter proposition, lighter in tone… Like Nickelback if they’d been brought up on an English council estate!
“‘Best Things’ is a feel-good song about being completely skint,” explained Franklin. “You’ve got a nice home you don’t own, a car you haven’t paid for, a mortgage you can barely afford and a pension that thinks you’re worthless, but from the outside, you’re absolutely smashing it.
“It’s our tongue-in-cheek take on keeping up with the Joneses and the ridiculous pressure to have everything, even when you can’t really afford any of it. The reality is everything costs more than it used to, and it feels harder than ever to keep up. They say the best things in life are free… We’re still trying to work out which things they meant.
“We work ourselves into the ground to buy things we can’t afford, to maintain a lifestyle we’re told we should want. ‘Best Things’ pokes fun at that; it’s not meant to preach, it’s meant to make you laugh, sing along and maybe feel slightly better when you check your bank balance.
“We’re constantly told the best things in life are free, but apparently nobody told the mortgage company. ‘Best Things’ is about having everything you’re supposed to want, the house, the car, the lifestyle, except technically none of it belongs to you.”
The Hold On Tight album features eleven tracks written by the band and produced by Tyler Spicer. Rooted in country, fuelled by rock and roll, and said to be forged from real-life stories that hit hard because they are true.
Hold On Tight is available now on CD, vinyl and digital. Tickets for all Wood Burnt Red’s forthcoming shows are available from the band’s official website.
