Toronto folk musician Donovan Woods knows when to admit his songs aren’t up to par. After Woods released his fourth LP, Hard Settle, Ain’t Troubled, earlier this year, he released the They Are Going Away EP, which he says consists of tracks that weren’t quite ready to be included in the full-length album.
“They just weren’t good,” Woods says with a laugh. “I tend to take a long time with lyrics, and I didn’t think they were done. I thought, ‘Oh, shit, I’ve gotta finish these,’ but I didn’t want to rush them, and I didn’t want to force them to be done. I don’t really have a process; I’m pretty lax. I wait for inspiration to strike. I’m not one of those people who can write every day, that’s for sure.”
Woods says that he’s always considered himself to be more of a writer than a performer, which is ironic given his touring history. He kickstarted his career by making his way down to Nashville in the early 2000s with the help of a publicist who gave him a vote of confidence and a chance to pursue his dream of becoming a professional songwriter.
“I was really lucky,” he says. “I’ve never really thought of myself as an artist, because then you start to think of yourself as this celebrity music person, and I didn’t really think that that was the right route for me. I thought that I’d always write songs for other people. I never thought that I would be on my own type of tours like this.”
One standout track on Hard Settle, Ain’t Troubled is “Leaving Nashville,” which Woods wrote about his time spent in that city. The song, although lyrically melancholic, has a sense of positive whimsy. It demonstrates the passion and tenacity that writers have, and their will and determination to not give up no matter what struggles and rejection they face.
“I go down to Nashville to write,” he says. “They drink a lot there, and I try and fit in, and in that, I’ve ended up throwing up in a few parking lots. Nashville is hard work, and it’s kind of addictive, and there’s something about it that’s enjoyable even though there’s so much negativity. It’s like a place like Times Square or Las Vegas. You look at it and go, ‘This is everything I hate.’ It’s consumerism, gridlock, and gross tourist-trap stuff, but at the same time there’s a wild energy that you can’t really deny, you know? You feel like you love it there, even though it’s representative of all these gross things.”
Woods has penned tracks for many artists, including Tim McGraw, who picked up his song “Portland, Maine,” and Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum, who included “Leaving Nashville” on his first solo album. Woods is flattered that artists like these two perform his songs.
“These guys have access to songs from the best songwriters in the world, and everybody’s pitching them songs every day,” he says, “so to catch their attention was really flattering and exciting; I just couldn’t believe it. Everybody in the Nashville business gets people taking their songs, so they’re all used to it. But, whenever I think about it objectively, it’s pretty amazing. I’m pretty amazed that it happened, and I feel really lucky.”
Donovan Woods
(with Joey Landreth)
$12, Thursday, November 10
Lucky Bar
luckybar.ca