AS a showcase of some of the very finest acoustic musicians, Wood Festival is no stranger to heartfelt performances. But few sets at this weekend’s gathering will be as poignant as that by Los Angeles singer-songwriter Sarabeth Tucek.

This stirring former actor, who has worked with the likes of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and appeared in the film Dig!, plays the festival, at Braziers Park, near Wallingford, after a string of life-changing experiences – including the release of her second album, Get Well Soon, inspired by the death of her father.

She describes it, poetically, as “an impressionistic rendering of a time ruled by grief”.

“It was a bad time, but I am feeling much better,” she says. “Right before my first album came out, I had a job looking after a little girl whose mother had breast cancer. Without getting too dramatic, I watched this lady fade away and die over the course of a year, and I found myself really affected by that.

“The following year, with my dad being ill, it all came back and it was just a horrible experience.”

She turned to the bottle, which led to car accidents and even time in jail.

“I got into trouble with the law and got locked up. It was way out of control.

“Another thing was I didn’t really know how to deal with the small amount of success I’d had. I didn’t work for a year after years of having two jobs, and that affected me too. I’d been scraping by for so many years, then I had a break and my mind took over and I went a bit crazy.”

The chance to write an album based on the experiences of her father’s passing allowed her to bounce back. Though, she admits, she knows she’ll never really get over it.

“When someone dies, it never leaves you,” she explains.

“It’s not like going back because it’s still with me. It might be a little tricky playing the songs live, because they are very personal, and it’s hard to feel like you’re being judged on an experience you’ve had. I guess you don’t have to hear the album as a collection of songs about grief, they could be about heartbreak or a bad boyfriend.”

That’s not to say it’s a gloomy, grief-stricken listen, though; far from it.

“No-one would want to hear that, would they?” she says. “A load of songs about my dead dad? That would be very grim.”

But, she says, it gave her the chance to get some issues off her chest.

“I did feel a lot of release and gratitude when I wrote the songs that are specifically about my dad. It felt like I was having some sort of communication with him, which was odd but rewarding. There are some songs I still find hard to listen to.”

Sarabeth’s Wood debut comes as she moves back to LA from New York, where she has been largely based since her first album in 2006.

“I’ve been in New York for the past few years, but it’s so difficult to live there as an artist.

“I don’t really want to go back, but New York is so expensive. There’s no space, and I don’t ever feel like I can play or write music in my flat without upsetting the neighbours! LA just makes more sense.”

While in the Big Apple she filled in time, and helped make ends meet between gigs, by selling retro tables and chairs.

“I have been working in a vintage furniture store,” she says. “I have an understanding boss. The guys in the store look at me like I’m crazy, but everyone in New York is a musician trying to make it, just like everyone in LA is trying to make it as an actor.

“If you want to find a musician in New York, go into an antique shop.”

For now, however, she’s busy on her UK tour, which this weekend includes her Wood appearance, on a bill packed with singer-songwriters.

“I’ve always played better shows in the UK,” she confesses. “I don’t know if it’s because crowds here are more receptive to my music than they are in the US or if they’re just polite, but I’ve definitely been spoiled.

“UK audiences just seem more open and don’t come along with any pre-conceived ideas.”

And, dare I say it, it finds her in a more cheerful mood.

“I should have enjoyed myself more before. But I know now that I’ll have more fun with my spare time.”

Sarabeth Tucek's album Get Well Soon is out now.

WOOD FESTIVAL

THERE’S no question about it; summer is almost here.

The festival season begins this weekend with that feast of all things green, lovely and wholesome – Wood.

The award-winning festival, which takes place in the woods at Braziers Park, near Wallingford, is a spin-off from the ever-popular Truck Festival. And it has a loyal army of fans, who will be joining organisers Robin and Joe Bennett on their beautiful Chiltern hilltop.

Among the talent lined up for this, the fourth annual Wood – are folk artist Eliza Carthy, right, American singer-songwriter Willy Mason, Oxfordshire’s very own Thea Gilmore and Sarabeth Tucek, above. There will also be sets by Zeus, Band of Hope, and Dreaming Spires.

An intimate affair, tickets are limited to 800, with festival-goers mixing up the music with an eclectic range of workshops – all based on an environmental vibe.

Wood runs from May 20-22. For tickets, click on to the Wood Festival links at thisistruck.com, or go to the Truck store in Cowley Road.