Woods songs resonate real life
On February 26, 2015, Kitchener manufacturing giant Schneider’s Foods closed for good leaving 1,200 people looking for work, having to retrain or relocate in the workforce. This once-thriving meat processing plant provided employment, career advancement and security for thousands of employees from generation to generation. But what are the ripple effects of these changes? How do people move forward from factories and assembly lines to tech savvy start-ups, quantum computing and robotic arms? Singer-songwriter/Juno nominee Donovan Woods ponders this question in “They Don’t Make Anything in That Town” — almost like playwright Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” put to folksong. It’s just one of many stellar tracks from Woods’ latest album “Hard Settle, Ain’t Troubled” recently long-listed for a 2016 Polaris Music Prize.
“I am in Nashville a lot so when I am there I have days off where I have time to myself so I just drive around the south,” says Woods who had just come back from Music City — home of his new publishing label Warner/Chappell
Records.
“I did a sweep through Alabama and there are towns there that are just ghosts of themselves now,” he continues. “When a plant closes, that’s about 600 jobs. That’s a really big deal and that’s also a big deal for every other business there too,” he adds. “It’s like getting a sense of the ecosystem and how fast it changes. I wanted to write this song because it is amazing how quickly those political decisions become personal decisions. Suddenly people are losing their jobs and that makes people . . . fall out of love,” he muses, almost laughing.
“That seems like a stretch but money is a big stress and the next thing you know, kids have been shuffled between their mum and dad’s house,” he states. “It isn’t a tragedy but it’s a real way that those decisions affect people’s lives on the most minute level. There are small towns everywhere,” he says. “It’s tragic how many times it happens over and over again,” he says adding he witnessed the same thing in his old hometown.
Woods, originally from Sarnia, is a master songwriter. Country stars have covered his songs including Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum (“Leaving Nashville”) and Tim McGraw (“Portland, Maine”) which to many sounds more like Woods!
“Portland, Maine” and “Leaving Nashville” were co-written by Woods and Nashville’s Abe Stoklasa (Blake Shelton). Woods has also co-written songs with Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea. Woods’ song “Brand New Gun” was featured in 2007 dramedy “Numb” with Matthew Perry in addition to his song “Wait and See” on TV’s “Degrassi: The Next Generation.”
In 2009, Woods released debut album “The Hold Up” (Sunny Lane) followed by The Widowmaker (2011) and “Don’t Get Too Grand” (Aporia Records) in 2013. “Hard Settle, Ain’t Troubled” and newest EP “They Are Going Away” are on Wood’s own label Meant Well.
Woods recently toured North America with Canadian singer/songwriter Matt Andersen (signed to locally-based record label Busted Flat.). He was also thrilled to open for folk music icon Buffy SainteMarie in Chicago and New York. Woods was here in 2015 opening for Andersen at CITS. Now he returns for the Onstage Series with a full band featuring Joshua Van Tassel, drums (Great Lake Swimmers); John Dinsmore, bass (Kathleen Edwards); Robbie Grunwald, piano (Jill Barber, Royal Wood); and Drew Durecka on violin (Miray).
His soft husky vocals are reminiscent of Paul Simon with spare but elegant folk/roots music backdrops that complement his intriguing song-stories. Woods has always listened to a lot of hip-hop because of its “vital form” but says Paul Simon was his “number one guy” because his dad was a massive fan.
“I endeavour to be like him,” he says. “I think I am ripping him off all the time,” he adds with a laugh.
He also spent a lot of time listening to country music radio and still does to know what is going on. Hence “What They Mean” from “They Are Going Away.”
“My son is a country music fan, which is strange to me,” admits Woods. “He is always in the back seat of the car listening. I wonder how he is piecing everything together and what the songs mean to him. He wants to know why so many songs have the word “crazy” in them,” said Woods with a faint chuckle.
Woods compares a good song to a pulse. Within the song’s pulse is “the interplay between specificity and universality” which brings the song to life.
“That’s when people go ‘this song really feels like real life and it sounds authentic,’” said Woods. “Because your mind works broadly. You notice the room is cold and then you notice a small thing and then you notice a big thing and you notice a small thing. So I think if you can achieve that — and it’s the same in literature — making a song or a lyric sound like the inner workings of the mind, well, that’s when it really resonates.”