Wood & Smoke (Minus 1) Reignites to Go Full-Tilt Ahead

Wood & Smoke has internally combusted after five years as one of Orange County’s most popular alternative-rock bands.

However, three of the four members are sticking together in a new band called Full Tilt Gonzo which will debut Wednesday at the Palomino in North Hollywood and will play its first local show at Bogart’s in Long Beach on July 10.

The story of Wood & Smoke’s split is an old one: The band had two singer-songwriters, and one of them decided he would be better off without a second chef stirring the pot.

Lance Whitson said recently that the band’s growing prospects of finally landing a record deal spurred him to bail out, because he no longer feels his musical approach is compatible with the songwriting and performing styles of his counterpart, Gary Williams. The two had led Wood & Smoke since 1988 and had performed as an acoustic duo before that.

Whitson said that demo recordings Wood & Smoke made during a recent tryout for Virgin Records convinced him to break away from the more theatrically inclined Williams. “When we got the tapes back,” Whitson said, “it was obvious to me it was two different bands playing on the songs,” depending on which of the two singer-writers was featured.

Whitson said he “couldn’t get into it anymore” when Williams was taking his turn as front man. “I felt I was coming into my own, and able to handle the load (alone). I think I was doing the right thing for everybody. I think (Williams) is right on in his own way. Now he’s free to go his own way.”

Williams said he thinks Whitson acted hastily, given continuing record industry interest in the band. “I told him, ‘We have an opportunity here knocking us in the head. But you have to do what makes you happy.’ We respect one another, and it’s not like (we’re) fighting. It’s more frustration.”

Whitson said that Wood & Smoke’s potent rhythm section, bassist Scott Evers and drummer Billy Stobo, decided to join him in his new band and that Wood & Smoke’s management will continue working with them.

Full Tilt Gonzo will play as a trio for now and will consider adding a second guitarist, Whitson said.

Williams is mulling whether to join an established band (he said he has had several inquiries) or to start a new one of his own.

Both Whitson and Williams lamented that they never released an album documenting Wood & Smoke’s music. The band had decided to wait for a major deal, rather than put out a self-financed or independent label release while waiting for bigger things to break.

“What’s the tangible evidence of it?” Williams asked, looking back on the band’s half-decade of songwriting and live shows. “It’s just papers and scraps and flyers and ticket stubs.”