"A beautiful, baroque work." - LA WEEKLY
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"Moving...heartbreaking." - GO MAG (Spain)
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"Passionate and affecting, even frightening at times." - AMERICANA UK
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"BOLKA is a tour-de-force of eclectic, hypnotic folk-rock. Jaw-dropping beauty." - OUT IN THE CITY (UK)
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"Dorian's music exists in a time-space continuum all its own." - SIGNAL TRIBUNE
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"Wry, wistful and deliciously eerie, BOLKA's a valentine to the brokenhearted." - INSTINCT MAG
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"The androgynous emotionality of Wood’s singing voice lends itself to the demanding theatricality of [his] lyrics, arrangements and production. The nakedness of a lover’s need and the wide-eyed madness that ensues when that need is not met twine around one another." - LA Weekly
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"Dorian’s voice is evocative of those persons, places and things in your mind that ring like cultural archetypes (the carnival ring leader who knows everyone’s secrets, the fool lamenting at the moon, the gregarious saloon piano player), but these apparently familiar characters he seems to be depicting yank at the proverbial rug under you and demonstrate his dynamic cultural literacy. Though they draw from different sources, his songs’ emotional roots are firmly planted in his own experience." - Signal Tribune
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"Wood unleashes gospel-infused wails and testimony that bring the audience…to a frenzy.” – The Advocate
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"Dorian Wood is an instigator extraordinaire. A shape-shifter. A subtle court jester posing as a harmless house pet. An inspiring addition to the freakish world we now live in...a true artist in the purest sense of the word. Fearless, confident, filled with passion. His songs are beautiful without being pretty, well orchestrated, and creepy almost to the point of being masochistic, all the while continuing to work under the guise of 'folk music'." - Citizen LA
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DORIAN WOOD's rich, haunting melodies and deeply personal tales of heartbreak and working-class fury are elevated by his spiralling warble/wail/battle cry, echoing the unflinching rawness of Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and Nick Cave. Each live performance is heavy with the soul's ugliest truths.
Born in Echo Park, California, Dorian learned to play the piano at an early age, under the tutelage of his grandfather, the pianist Calasanz Alvarez. Dorian performed his first piano recital at age 5. In his teens, Dorian attended the Conservatorio de Castella, a high school of the arts in Costa Rica. Upon returning to the States, he attended film school at Los Angeles City College for 4 semesters, before dropping out and focusing solely on his musical abilities. Through the creation of hours of lo-fi experimental folk ditties on tape and CD-R, Dorian developed a unique style that would lead to the formation of two critically-praised bands, the art-rock quartet/quintet The Dorian Wood Guilt Trip, and the semi-improvisational gospel choir The Northern Embers.
Dorian's debut solo album, BOLKA. was recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles, and was released in 2007. This aural voyage into the tremulous core of love lost is produced by Rebecca Stout (of Hendersonville Song Company), and boasts a lush, epic mountain of sound thanks to contributions from the Bulgarian women's choir Nevenka, bassist June Kato, percussionist Derek Greene and members of the jazz/tango group Cat Hair Ensemble.
In addition to upcoming shows on the West and East Coast, as well as the UK, Spain and Argentina, Dorian will be revealing glimpses of Rattle Rattle, a "death" piece, which will be released in its entirety in 2009.
Dorian is also a member of the Killsonic collective. He resides in Los Angeles.
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