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 Donovan Woods (from the album Both Ways) You have to lean in to listen as Donovan Woods whispers his words over stark banjo notes to open his recent release, Both Ways. Hushed thoughts select images from his mind, Donovan Woods walking through memory, wondering and possibly worrying about his part in a past relationship with “Good Lover”. The song sets the standard for Both Ways, the album choosing sides in love, the stories each picking partners for the push/pull motion as hearts give, take, move forward or get stuck in a moment. There is a reverence to Donovan Woods vocal delivery, a respect for the music that subtly courses underneath the tracks as he makes a last wish with “Our Friend Bobby” over percussive bubbles of rhythm, tugs a tale out of static airwaves for “Read About Memory”, and struts on the assured beat and decisive actions, fixing the world as he moves down “Easy Street”. The songs of Both Ways are interactive, Donovan Woods staging the scene, dressing his characters without needing to announce a spoiler alert as the listener picks up the development of the story line. That style suits Donovan Woods, his choice for songs staying close to his belief that ‘the writing I always liked is about things that are indicative of a world but not the entire world. They lead you into the room and then let you fill in the details. One detail that makes you go, ‘OK, I feel like I understand.’ As long as you find that one detail, that’s the key. That’s the one you stick with and the rest is up to people’s imagination’. Time with family and friends winds towards the future while the present picks up the pace to reach tomorrow in “Next Year”. Both Ways packs a “Truck Full of Money” with the help of a solid backbeat and crosses the finish line in “Great Escape” with a suitcase full of what-if’s while Donovan Woods shares secrets with the hammering heart beats of “I Live a Little Lie” and strums acoustic chords to admit “I Ain’t Never Loved No One” in a duet conversation with Rose Cousins. Listen and buy the music of Donovan Woods from AMAZON http://www.donovanwoods.net/ 
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