Danny Boy: A Duet with My Father

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! It feels like the perfect time to share this with you. My interpretation of the classic Irish folk song, Danny Boy is now streaming on all platforms.

Listen to Danny Boy: Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

As many of you know, my father was a singer and church cantor — I remember cowering in the pews of St Brendan's in San Francisco and Santa Maria in Orinda, as my dad's booming baritone seemed to shake the rafters. And Danny Boy was his calling card. 

Friends, family, and even acquaintances would often ask him to sing Danny Boy. And let's be honest, sometimes he'd just launch into the tune unprompted. And he owned this song. It was perfect for his rich baritone and his ability to connect on an emotional level with literally anyone he'd ever met. 

I've always been reluctant to sing my father's song. How could any rendition hold a candle to his? For some reason, I could never remember the words anyway, even though I'd heard it thousands of times. It was as if I had a mental block from performing this song — much like Elvis had with Are You Lonesome Tonight. 

I guess I wasn't alone: I couldn't even find anyone to sing it at his funeral in 2014. Some said they couldn't perform it the way he did, or that they couldn't get through the song without breaking down. I was able to muster singing the last lines of the 2nd verse as part of my eulogy. My aunt Maryanne later led us through the full song as he was lowered into the earth. 

A few years ago, my uncle asked me to sing Danny Boy at his St Patrick's Day party. It wasn't his first request. This time I said yes, though. I was able to make it through (while glancing at the lyrics on my phone). Last year I began working out the song on guitar. I had the urge to take it in a rock oriented direction. The song has been stuck inside me my whole life — I might as well let it loose. 

I then added bass, drums, lap steel... but I realized it wasn't quite finished after showing a friend my rough mix. "Maybe add some acapella," he said. It instantly dawned on me that I happened to have acapella of this song: my father's final performance. 

My father and I both sang together in a men's chorus. During his final days, over 30 members of the chorus came to sing my dad a few songs in his home. And when the chorus was about to begin their second song, my father rose from his hospital bed and launched into a stirring rendition of Danny Boy from that I will never forget. What his voice lacked in timbre, he made up for in courage and tenderness. As one chorus member put it, "we came with the idea to give to him, but it was instead he who gave to us." 

Fortunately, I had a recording of this performance and immediately downloaded it, hoping to create a duet with my father. But I assumed it wouldn’t match my already-recorded version—he had changed keys during his performance, and there was no way it would align. When I dropped the file into my Logic session, I was stunned. His opening line, 'Oh Danny Boy,' naturally climbed to the root note of my song’s key, making for a perfect intro. On a whim, I placed his final stanza at the end—and it landed seamlessly in the key I modulate to. This time, it was as if I were reaching up to him. 

So here you have it. No one will ever be able to wrest Danny Boy from my father, but why would you want to? I hope he forgives me for turning his tender Irish ballad into a tender arena rock song. It's the kind of music he'd tell me to turn down when I was a teenager - I guess I'm still feeling rebellious. 

Personnel

Vocals, Guitar - Jim Woods

Mixing, Mastering - Shai Fishman

Lap Steel - John Heinrich

Electric Bass - Robbie Malone

Drums - Jaimie Parks

This is the first song from a three-song EP called Songs for My Father. I’ll be sharing the rest with you soon.

A Clairvoyant New Single

My latest single, 'Sarah,' is now streaming on all platforms!

Listen to Sarah: Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

In a stroke of foresight, I wrote a song called 'Sarah' 10 years before I met my wife, Sarah. My latest single is also one of the oldest songs on my debut album. Although the hook was written long ago, I continued to enhance the arrangement up until (and even after) the mixing deadline, making it the first song I recorded but one of the last to be mastered. The reggae-infused rhythm section makes this song an outlier on my album, yet my signature vocal harmonies are unmistakable throughout.

Personnel

Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard - Jim Woods
Mixing, Mastering - Shai Fishman
Drums - Markos Vassiliou
Electric Bass - Robbie Malone
Rhodes Piano - Marco Cremaschini
Trombone - Jon Brummel

Special thanks to Brett Strader for help on an earlier demo of the song!

Stay tuned for the next single coming in July. But if you're dying to hear the whole album right now, you can always buy it today on Bandcamp.

Best,

Jim Woods

New Single Inspired by Miles & Andalucía

My newest single, Heartbeat is now streaming!

Listen to Heartbeat: Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

Heartbeat is my ode to Miles Davis’s Sketches of Spain and my visits to La Carboneria while studying in Sevilla during college. I brought together everything from tabla to trumpet to realize my vision for the song and was blown away by the performances of my musical collaborators.

Jim Woods at the Carboneria in 2001

Heartbeat Personnel
Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard - Jim Woods
Production, Mixing, Mastering - Shai Fishman
Drums - Jamie Parks
Tabla - Yatziv Caspi
Double Bass - Ollie Hayhurst
Oboe, French Horn - John Heinrich
Trumpet - Mark Morgan

In case you missed it, I posted a snippet I performed of Lizzy McAlpine’s song, Doomsday. She’s a great singer-songwriter, and I loved putting my own spin on her haunting ballad.

Stay tuned for the next single coming in June. But if you're dying to hear the whole album right now, you can always buy it today on Bandcamp.

Best,

Jim Woods

Alice in Chains Cover with Special Guest

I'm pleased to share a cover of Alice in Chains' Man in the Box, the song that launched the grunge movement. Never one to color within the lines, I transformed the song into a Bossa Nova groove, reharmonizing the arrangement and enlisting a flutist, vibraphonist, and percussionist to give it some Brazilian bonafides. But the key ingredient is vocals provided by my lovely, secretly-talented wife, Sarah, who totally steals the show! I took on this cover project as an homage to the inspiration for my newest single, Vertigo. Both are now streaming!

Listen to Man in the Box: Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

Listen to Vertigo: Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

Vertigo is a nod to one of my favorite records as a teenager: Jar of Flies by Alice in Chains. I loved the rich vocal harmonies and acoustic guitar layers juxtaposed against the darkness of Layne Staley's bluesy vocals — man, he had a set of pipes! Despite its acoustic emphasis, Jar of Flies had some amazing percussion — I remember some of my drummer friends in high school attempting drummer Sean Kinney's distinctive opening groove of No Excuses.

Vertigo has evolved substantially since I originally wrote it almost 10 years ago, but it's kept the low drone underneath and an almost raga-like feel in the nylon-string acoustic guitar. You may hear a Norwegian Wood influence too. The song really took form with the production help from my voice teacher Nevada Jones who encouraged me to explore adding a top-line vocal over the Seven Bridges Road-esque vocal ensemble (me singing 4 different parts). My mixing and mastering engineer, Shai Fishman, did a marvelous job of blending all the disparate elements together to create what I humbly attempted as an 8th track for Alice in Chains Jar of Flies — an EP that always ended too soon haunted by the magical voice of a man whose life also ended much too soon. Listen for the motif that marks the outro as it heralds the theme of my next single, Heartbeat.

Man in the Box Personnel

Lead Vocals, Guitars, Arrangement - Jim Woods
Mixing, Mastering - Shai Fishman

Background Vocals - Sarah Woods

Flute - John Heinrich

Vibraphone - Jerry Tachoir

Percussion - Larry Salzman

Bass - Robbie Malone

Drums - Markos Vassiliou

Vertigo Personnel

Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard - Jim Woods

Production, Mixing, Mastering - Shai Fishman

Vocal Lessons, Production - Nevada Jones

Drums - Jamie Parks

Double Bass - Ollie Hayhurst

Electric Bass - Robbie Malone

Stay tuned for the next single, Heartbeat, coming in May. But if you're dying to hear the whole album right now, you can always buy it today on Bandcamp.

Best,

Jim Woods

Hurricane

My second single, "Hurricane", is now streaming on all music platforms!

Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube

"Hurricane" is the most primal, visceral piece on the album. It's as if Elvis had contributed a song to the Crow soundtrack — swirling layers of swampy slide guitars and Bonham-esque drum fills frame the kind of love that rips you off your feet only to slam you back down into the ground.  

Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard - Jim Woods
Production, Mixing, Mastering - Shai Fishman
Drums - Jamie Parks
Electric Bass - Robbie Malone
Lap Steel - John Heinrich

Stay tuned for the next single, Vertigo, coming in April. But if you're dying to hear the whole album right now, you can always buy it today on Bandcamp.

Best,

Jim Woods

Portishead Glory Box Cover

To showcase some of the musical influences for the upcoming releases from my album, I've decided to put together a few cover songs. The first is Glory Box by Portishead. I've always revered Beth Gibbons as a modern-day torch singer, and I tried to channel her energy — in a much lower vocal range of course.

Portishead Glory Box Cover by Jim Woods

Give it a spin and be sure to check out my first single, Angel's Share. My second single, Hurricane, debuts on 3/26/24, but you can stream it now and purchase the whole album at https://jimwoods.com.

Angel’s Share

Jim Woods releases his debut single, Angel’s Share, a song he originally performed in his high school talent show.  Connecting transcendent works of art and the ancient ruins of our past, the song seeks to wrest the secret of the existential mysteries all around us only to find them lost to the 'angel's share'—the term used to describe whisky lost during barrel aging.

Vocals, Guitar - Jim Woods

Mixing, Mastering - Shai Fishman

Background Vocals - Grace Woods

Drums - Jamie Parks

Electric Bass - Robbie Malone

Pedal Steel, Flute - John Heinrich

Violin, Mandolin - Michael Cleveland

Now available on all streaming platforms!

I’m releasing an album!

I'd like to share a project I've been working on for a very long time... I am finally releasing my first album! 

Bandcamp | Spotify | Apple Music | Youtube | jimwoods.com

That's right — in addition to being a brewer and herder of toddlers, I am an aspiring singer-songwriter. My debut album, LEVELS, consists of my 13 greatest hits over three decades, including one I performed in my high school talent show and another that I penned just two years ago.

"What does it sound like?" Well, I'd say that I channeled the baritones of my two greatest influences, Elvis Presley, and my father, a San Francisco church cantor. Though the distorted guitars and vocals may seem a long way from my father's famous rendition of Danny Boy, I'm certain he can still hear his mark on my music from his heavenly perch — though he still might tell me to turn it down.

"Why wait so long?" I finally felt that I had the time, ability, and tools to fully realize the vision of these diverse songs. Confined to our home in San Francisco's Outer Sunset during the pandemic, I embraced the chance to lay down these tracks in a makeshift studio. Recording vocals, guitars, and keyboards became my nightly ritual, undertaken in the quiet hours after my boys had gone to bed. To fill out the arrangements, I turned to a community of remote musicians around the world. From Berlin to Nashville, pedal steel to tabla, and chamber pop to grunge, I brought together disparate musicians, ideas, and genres to realize my life's work.

"How do I listen?" Today, I am releasing my first single, Angel's Share, on all the major streaming platforms. I am also providing free streaming of Angel's Share and a sneak peek of my next single, Hurricane, on my Bandcamp page. I'll be rolling out the remaining songs every few weeks with an album release in late 2024. Is the drip, drip of music driving you crazy? Fear not! For starting TODAY, you may purchase the entire album on Bandcamp for the low, low price of $9.99.

"Whose fault is this?!?" There are many people to blame, er... thank. First and foremost, my wife, Sarah, who encouraged me to undertake this project; my vocal teacher Nevada Jones was instrumental in making this album possible as well; and Shai Fishman's mixing, mastering, and production work really took this project to another level. There were also many friends that provided key feedback along the way — thank you all! And of course, I found some amazing musicians and engineers to work with. 

Thank you for listening and spreading the word! I really had a blast putting this together, and it would mean the world to me if you are able to check it out. I hope it makes you feel something! 

Sincerely, 

Jim Woods