Donovan Woods is a Canadian folk and country singer-songwriter. He has released several albums of folk and roots music, including the Juno Award-winning ''Both Ways''.
Early life
Woods was born and raised in
Sarnia
Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes w ...
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...
'', November 10, 2010.
Career
Woods' first album, ''The Hold Up'', was released in 2007.
His second album, ''The Widowmaker'', was released in 2010, and his third album, ''Don't Get Too Grand'', was released in 2013 and garnered Woods' first Juno Award nomination for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year: Solo.
His fourth album, ''Hard Settle, Ain't Troubled'', was released February 26, 2016, and was a longlisted nominee for the
2016 Polaris Music Prize The 2016 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 19, 2016 at The Carlu event theatre in Toronto, Ontario.12th Canadian Folk Music Awards, Woods won the award for English Songwriter of the Year, and the album was nominated for Contemporary Album of the Year.
Woods' fifth full-length album ''Both Ways'' was released on April 20, 2018. At the
Juno Awards of 2019
The Juno Awards of 2019, honouring Canadian music achievements, were presented in London, Ontario during the weekend of 16–17 March 2019. The primary telecast ceremonies were held at Budweiser Gardens, preceded by numerous Juno Week events from ...
, ''Both Ways'' won the Juno Award for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year. In May 2019 Woods released ''The Other Way'', a companion album to ''Both Ways'' which featured more acoustic-based renditions of the prior album's songs."Hear Donovan Woods’ New Acoustic Version of ‘Truck Full of Money’" ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'', April 16, 2019. ''The Other Way'' included guest vocals from
Tenille Townes
Tenille Nicole Townes (born Nadkrynechny; January 20, 1994) is a Canadian country music singer from Grande Prairie, Alberta. In 2011, at the age of 17, she was nominated for a Canadian Country Music Award for Female Artist of the Year.
Biograp ...
on "I Ain't Ever Loved No One", which was a duet with
Rose Cousins
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be e ...
in its original ''Both Ways'' version.
His newest album, ''Without People,'' was released on November 6, 2020. The album featured guest vocals from both Katie Pruitt and Rhys Lewis as well as songwriting credits from
Ashley Monroe
Ashley Lauren Monroe (born September 10, 1986) is an American country music singer-songwriter.
Monroe has released two solo singles, "Satisfied" and "I Don't Want To" (which featured Brooks & Dunn singer Ronnie Dunn), that reached the U.S. '' ...
,
Tucker Beathard
Tucker Russell Beathard ( ; born January 24, 1995) is an American country music singer and songwriter. A son of songwriter Casey Beathard, Beathard was signed to Dot Records, Dot Records, a subsidiary of Big Machine Records in 2015 where he rel ...
,
Thomas Finchum
Thomas Finchum (born December 1, 1989) is an American country musician and former platform diver. He was a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. Finchum announced his retirement from diving in 2012. He is now pursuing a country music career.
D ...
and
Ed Robertson
Lloyd Edward Elwyn Robertson (born October 25, 1970) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the band Barenaked Ladies. He, along with former member Steven Page, founded the group in 1988. As of Page's ...
of Barenaked Ladies. As part of the release, Woods launched the ''Donovan Woods With People Project'', which featured dancers and visual artists from multiple countries creating pieces inspired by songs from the album. One of the project's featured artists was Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter, Ariana and the Rose.
On May 7, 2021 Woods released the song "IOWA" with
Aoife O'Donovan
Aoife O'Donovan ( , ; born November 18, 1982) is an American singer and Grammy award-winning songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer for the string band Crooked Still and she also co-founded the Grammy Award-winning female folk trio I'm ...
. On March 18, 2022, Woods released his EP, ''Big Hurt Boy''. He subsequently opened for
Matt Nathanson
Matthew Adam Nathanson (born March 28, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter whose work is a blend of folk and rock and roll music. In addition to singing, he plays acoustic (sometimes a 12-string) and electric guitar, and has played both sol ...
on his "Some Mad Hope 15th Anniversary Tour" in the United States.
In 2023, he participated in an all-star recording of
Serena Ryder
Serena most commonly refers to:
* Serena Williams (born 1981), professional tennis player
Serena may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Serena (genre), 13th-century Occitan poetic genre
* ''Serena'' (1962 film), a British crime t ...
's single "
What I Wouldn't Do
"What I Wouldn't Do" is a song performed by Canadian singer-songwriter Serena Ryder, which was released as a single in November 2012. The song was written by Ryder and Jerrod Bettis for Ryder's fifth studio album, '' Harmony''. The song was rel ...
", which was released as a charity single to benefit
Kids Help Phone
Kids Help Phone (french: Jeunesse, J’écoute) is a Canadian charitable organization that provides online and telephone counselling and volunteer-led, text-based support in English and French to youth across Canada. Kids Help Phone also prov ...
's Feel Out Loud campaign for youth mental health.
Songwriting
Woods' song "Portland, Maine" (co-written with Abe Stoklasa) has also been recorded by
Tim McGraw
Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...
. Woods' song "Leaving Nashville" (also co-written with Abe Stoklasa) has been recorded by
Lady A
Lady A (formerly known as Lady Antebellum) is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar), ...
singer
Charles Kelley
Charles Burgess Kelley (born September 11, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and lead singer and founding member of the country music trio Lady A, which was formed in 2006 and are signed to Big Machine Records.
Early life and career
Kelle ...
.
Woods was signed to Warner/Chappell Nashville in 2016.
In 2018, Woods was a
SOCAN Songwriting Prize The SOCAN Songwriting Prize, formerly known as the ECHO Songwriting Prize, is an annual competition recognizing the best in Canadian emerging music, both anglophone and francophone.
Established in 2006, the competition was designed to recognize so ...
nominee as cowriter of James Barker Band's song " Chills". He has also co-written the number one
Canada Country
The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...
the Reklaws
The Reklaws are a Canadian country music duo from North Dumfries, Ontario, formed in 2012. The duo consists of siblings Stuart and Jenna Walker. They have released three albums, ''Freshman Year (album), Freshman Year'', ''Sophomore Slump (album) ...
Chad Brownlee
Chad Brownlee (born July 12, 1984) is a Canadian country music artist, songwriter, actor, and former ice hockey defenceman. He has one #1 Canada Country hit with " Forever's Gotta Start Somewhere".
Sports career
Brownlee was a draft pick for t ...
.
Film/TV Syncs
Woods' song "Brand New Gun" was featured in the movie '' Numb'' starring
Matthew Perry
Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004).
As well as starring in the short-lived television series '' St ...
. His song "Wait and See" was featured on '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'', and his song "My Cousin Has a Grey Cup Ring" was used in commercials for the Grey Cup. "Grey Cup Ring" was inspired by Woods' father, who is a cousin of former
Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...
player Glen Weir."Toronto folksinger takes on Stompin' Tom Connors – football style" ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...
'', November 29, 2009. His song "Kennedy" was featured on an episode of '' The Good Doctor'' in 2017, "Don't Get Too Grand" was featured on ''
Rookie Blue
''Rookie Blue'' is a Canadian police drama television series starring Missy Peregrym and Gregory Smith. It was created by Morwyn Brebner, Tassie Cameron, and Ellen Vanstone. The series premiered on June 24, 2010, at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/8 ...
'' and "Portland, Maine" was featured on season 1 of ''
Legacies
In law, a legacy is something held and transferred to someone as their inheritance, as by will and testament. Personal effects, family property, marriage property or collective property gained by will of real property.
Legacy or legacies may refer ...
'' in 2019. Woods' has had other placements in shows like '' Felicity,
Less Than Kind
''Less Than Kind'' is a 2008–2013 Canadian television comedy-drama series that stars Jesse Camacho as Sheldon Blecher, a teenager growing up in a loving but dysfunctional Jewish family in Winnipeg. The show's cast also includes Maury Chayki ...
'' and '' The Fosters''.
Woods wrote "The Heart of Christmas" performed by
Alicia Witt
Alicia Roanne Witt (born August 21, 1975) is an American actress, singer and pianist. She first came to fame as a child actress after being discovered by David Lynch, who cast her in '' Dune'' (1984) and '' Twin Peaks'' (1990). Witt had a critic ...
in the Hallmark movie, ''Our Christmas Love Song.''