get into the woods
about
The Woods aren't just a band; they're a place where genres and generations overlap, blending the three-part harmonies of 1970s folk-rock with the hooks of modern-day country music. The result is a polished sound that's both fresh and familiar, created by a trio of Nashville-based singers, songwriters, and instrumentalists who breathe new life into old-school influences. With the release of their upcoming debut EP, The Woods showcase not only the writing chops that sent their first single, "World's On Fire," into the Top 50 on the Music Row Country Breakout Chart, but also the stacked vocals and entwined guitarmonies that have earned the trio comparisons to acts like The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. Produced by Grammy-winning producer Blake Chancey (The Dixie Chicks, Little Big Town) and recorded in the wake of The Woods' arena tour with Tim McGraw, this next chapter of music serves as a reintroduction to one of Nashville's most promising exports.
Bandmates Dan O'Rourke, Raquel Cole, and Leland Rooney all came to Nashville on their own, looking to make their individual marks on a city steeped in music. Cole was an award-winning songwriter from British Columbia, with a pair of Top 50 country singles under her belt and an electric guitar in her hands. O'Rourke was a nomadic folksinger who'd already lived in a half-dozen cities across the country, earning a first-place finish in the International Songwriting Competition along the way. Rooney was a classically trained guitarist who'd been gigging since his teenage years, playing country songs on the Texas bar circuit long before he could order his own drinks. Together, the three musicians found common ground in the music of their parents' generation. They began making their own updated version of that sound, blending their voices together into thick harmonies, rooting everything in classic songwriting and contemporary storytelling.
With their most recent single, "Make It Easy," The Woods shine a light on the musical chemistry they've developed not only in the writing room, but onstage, too. From hometown residencies in Nashville to arena tours, they've spent countless hours beneath the stage lights, building their audience song-by-song, distilling their wide-ranging influences into something singular. In a town of solo artists, sidemen, and session musicians, The Woods are a genuine band —one whose members play their own instruments, write their own songs, and track their own vocal harmonies at the same time.
"We're bringing back the sound of a band," says Rooney. "Anytime you hear us singing on the record, it's the three of us in the room together, sharing the same air, singing at the same time.Anytime you hear the band, it's us playing together. There's a real human element to what we're doing, and I think audiences are ready for that."
To capture the full power of the trio's interlocked voices, The Woods turned to Blake Chancey, the Grammy-winning producer behind the Dixie Chicks' classic records Wide Open Spaces andFly. It was Chancey who encouraged The Woods to sing together in the recording studio, capturing their harmonies in real time, each singer's voice bleeding into the adjacent microphones. "If one of us messed up, we'd all just start again," O'Rourke remembers. "Maybe that made a little extra work for us, but it paid off, too. It made the harmonies sound alive." The results speak for themselves. "Make It Easy" their most recent release doubles down on the band's folk/rock roots with honking harmonica and jangling guitars. The Woods pay tribute to the social bonds forged by their troubadour lifestyle. A communal thread runs through their upcoming single titled, "My People, My Tribe," too. "That's a bluesy, soulful song where we get to spread our wings," says Cole, who sings lead on the track.
"We have two lead guitar players and two lead singers in the band, so everything's changing all the time," O'Rourke adds. "If Raquel is singing lead, we'll shift around our harmonies to support her, and it's an entirely different vocal blend. And if I'm singing, it doesn't sound like a Dan O'Rourke song. It sounds like the band. It sounds like The Woods."
It sounds like The Woods, indeed. Three years after making their official debut with "World's on Fire" — a track that reached the Top 50 on the Music Row Country Breakout Chart, earning praise from NPR and Billboard along the way — The Woods have grown into one of Nashville's most beloved exports. Marking the sound of a band moving forward, fueled up on melody and momentum. "We wanted to invite people into our world, our vibe, and our community," says Cole. "That's why we included 'My Tribe' on the record, because we want people to come join this thing we're all building together."
