Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have released their first new album in four years. “Woodland“, which follows their 2020 covers LP “All the Good Times“, was recorded at the couple’s own Woodland Sound Studios in Nashville. “Woodland is at the heart of everything we do, and has been for the last twenty some years,” they said in a statement. “The past four years were spent almost entirely within its walls, bringing it back to life after the 2020 tornado and making this record. The music is (songs are) a swirl of contradictions, emptiness, fullness, joy, grief, destruction, permanence. Now.”
In November, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings’ 10th studio album, “Woodland”, was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Folk Album, and the lead track, “Empty Trainload of Sky,” received a nomination for Best Americana Performance. “Woodland” marks the 10th full-length studio album for the duo, who have been releasing their albums using alternating names based on “whoever was singing lead,” as Rawlings explains. With “Woodland”, Welch and Rawlings put both their names on it — along with the name of the studio where they not only record, but also the space they saved after it was struck by a tornado in 2020.
While in St. Paul for two nights of concerts at the Fitzgerald Theater, Welch and Rawlings walked over to The Current where Radio Heartland host and producer Mike Pengra welcomed them, along with bassist Paul Kowert, for a studio session. After playing a selection of songs from “Woodland”, Welch and Rawlings stuck around for a conversation with Mike Pengra.
A tight 10-track record that muses on loss and destruction, renewal and perseverance, the folk icons have brought another harmonic, thoughtful and sonically sparkling record our way yet again.
Acony Records is proud to present “Woodland“, the new album by the preeminent song writing team Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Following up their homespun Grammy-winning release “All The Good Times“, this ambitious 10 song album mingles full band tracks with intricate duet performances all tied together with the duo’s signature sound and remarkable lyricism. “Woodland” was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee at Welch and Rawlings’ own Woodland Sound Studio (newly rebuilt after the 2020 tornado) and cements the duo’s iconoclastic position at the forefront of acoustic music.
A wonderful collection of songs. The range of styles and yet connected as well. Well worth waiting for.
released August 23rd, 2024
The Fat Angel Sings 