Now available in ash and baby blue in all sizes on the Merch page!
Friends of Dan (podcast)
Fresh outta the tank! Dan was soooo thorough and truly did his research which was really fun for me. Thanks, Dan!
Scratch Take (podcast)
Jeremy digs deep into the stories behind the songs of recording artists and their writing. Bits and pieces of the music that shaped me are peppered into this podcast including my favorite aria from La Bohème and jingles I've recorded. Check out the other podcasts - very cool!
I have been touring all month promoting my album new album "Til They Bang On The Door" (digital or physical). Am covering some incredible ground, meeting new faces, playing with some super special groove maestros trio-style. October will be revving up the caravan once again for US Southeast tour so check out my TOUR page for more info! And if you haven't heard the album yet, go get 'er! Thank you all for supporting live music. Some of you drove long and far for these shows and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Be-yond.
Ahmet Ertegun kissed me in 2002. We were on the top floor of the Atlantic Records building in NYC. That kiss was a “blessing” to push you off into the world of record-making. In my case, it was my first record and I had just sang the “chosen single” 11 times that day – yup, I counted – making the rounds to different offices with my two guitar players. That “kiss” fairy-dusted a path for me into a career of singing. I shook my tambourine the whole time “la-la-la”-ing wherever possible along the way. I let it steer the heck out of me like I actually had no say in the matter.
I had no idea what kind of journey I was about to embark on – that night, that year, the next 15 years. A mix of planes, trains and automobiles in practically every part of the world. But my favorite was always this: the stinky van on long drives with fellow musicians, full of countless laugh-til-it-hurts moments; everyone speaking the same language, on-stage and off. That’s where I felt the connection, kinship, trust and belonging.
I met Michael League of Snarky Puppy a few years ago through my good friend Henry Hey. Michael played bass in my band and we had plenty of long van drives playing small clubs and theaters in support of my 2010 release for Verve. It was Mike who introduced me to the world of The Pups – my dear sweet Puppinos – inviting me up on stage to sing at their “Family Dinner” residency in NYC. “No rehearsal, Lucy. Just come up, we got you,” I remember him saying. And that they did.
At this point, I'd had a few years of flexing my muscles in the “getting dropped-and-signed, dropped-and-signed” department of the music business. My musical ears and eyes were flung open after singing one song and I thought, “Ah, okay, I get it.” I can’t actually explain it in actual words, but musicians and other creative types will know exactly what it means. Something clicks and then you just go do what you gotta do.
Yesterday, I released my 4th album, Til They Bang On The Door. Finally. I am pumped. I made a record that I am extremely proud of. It was made with friends and it feels different from everything else I've done. A typical conversation in the studio: “That feel good to you?” “Man, it sure does.” “Okay, let’s move on.”
Trusting my boys (and co-producers) Henry Hey and Michael League the whole time, my incredible NYC music community, Snarky Puppy, and – the last piece of the puzzle, my label – GroundUP Music. No bull, no need to “get this guy” or “that guy” to approve it while waiting for 2 months. Nothing like that. Just straight up, good ol’ fashioned music-making. Bars were raised.
Ahmet may have also kissed Aretha and Ruth Brown on the top floor of the Atlantic building, fairy-dusting their career paths, too. But I reeeeally hope Robert Plant is the one that kissed him back the way I almost did!
So in short, thank you for checking out Til They Bang On The Door. I really hope you enjoy this little musical journey as much as we did.
Love, Lucy
Counting down to album release date - 7/15/16! It's the last few days of the European Rod Stewart tour. We played Madrid last night at the stunning Teatro Real for a small crowd of 1700 and now we are off to Lisbon. An amazing way to wrap a tour. Working on some of my own tour dates right now for August and September along with some other albums and soundtracks I am featured on. It's all shaking up this month and the next!! Back soon. Flight to catch...
NEWS! BIG AND HAPPY NEWS! My 4th solo album 'Til They Bang On The Door' is now available for pre-order worldwide!
You receive a download of "Kiss Me Mister Histrionics" with your pre-order. Produced by Henry Hey & Michael League, mixed by Nic Hard, this album is all about making music with friends who I adore and admire. More to come...
For digital, go to iTunes
For physical, go to GroundUP Music and Amazon
Lucy featured in NYC's Downtown magazine column "Really Busy People" - READ HERE!
"Lucy Woodward’s pure, deeply appealing vocals communicate genuine cheeriness, even in a flirtatious under-the-mistletoe mood—one of the album’s many charms.“ - DownBeat
I finally made a Big Band holiday record! Bucket List check! I teamed up with the amazing arranger/composer David Ricard and just did it! It’s getting some radio play (so listen out for it) and was #1 on Amazon for “hot releases” in the Swing Jazz category (who’da thunk?) yesterday. It’s available on iTunes and Amazon digitally or if you would like a hard copy, email me via this website or on Facebook and I’ll get you one ASAP! Enjoooy!
Finally! My first European tour everrrr opening for my boys Snarky Puppy (with them as my backing band). We'll be playing songs from my new album (to be released in 2016). This is gonna be sooo gooood. UK, Brussels, France and my home country, Holland...
Watch me and my musical husband Everett Bradley sing Nina Simone's "Be My Husband" at this year's APAP conference in NYC HERE!
The Goods video "I'm So Happy That It's You!" is done. We asked a whole bunch of our male friends to help us make this video and boy, did they...Check it out here!
On set of my newest video for my song "Kiss Me, Mister Histrionics". Directed by my brother. NYC. Photo by Alex Alexander.
Lucy in The September Issue of Italian Vogue in the story "International Artists to Watch"
On a mini-tour in South America right now with Rod Stewart. Argentina - Uruguay - Chile. This is me backstage after sound check in Montevideo, Uruguay. On my way to catering to get me some more dulce de leche. That's how we roll this week.
My dear Brooklynite friend Josh Shneider asked me to sing a few songs on his Big Band project last year. This is an absolutely gooorgeous record. It's called The Love Speaks Orchestra and probably one of the best band names I've come across. Cuz it's trueee...
This was a first for me to sing vocal takes live with the 19 piece band. The players on this record were so solid that it actually felt like surfing on a sound wave or something. Is that too out there? They just carried me.
Check out Josh's original song "The Hurting Kind" on my music page. I wanted to record this song over and over just because I couldn't actually get enough of the melody. I also sang another original of his "When Love Speaks" and the classic "Lost in the Stars" (one of my favorite Tony Bennett standards). The record is getting quite a bit of jazz radio airplay so check out your local listings.
While touring much of this past year with Rod Stewart, I've been writing and recording on my off time for my next release. My longtime collaborators//partners in crime Henry Hey (David Bowie, George Michael) and Michael League (Snarky Puppy) and I came together with lots of musically-infused thoughts after touring and hanging (and dirty martini-ing). I wanted to bring the rawness of what I did on the road into the studio with touches of film noir textures and backdrops.
We recorded it at The Magic Shop in NYC with our über-talented friends. Fusing some of my darling longtime NYC bandmates and Michael's band Snarky Puppy, the sound is dirty, soulful and full of beautiful string and horn arrangements. We even yanked Saw Lady out of the NYC subway to have her haunt the record with her saw playing. The phenomenal Nic Hard is mixing now and maaaannnn, oh man...
I'm very excited to share it with you as I continue on my record-making journey (record numero 4!).
The Goods is my new girlband with Holly Palmer & Michelle Lewis. I love us. Think Bridget Jones meets The anti-Andrews Sisters. We sang crazy good and just basically sit around writing songs trying to make each other laugh. We just released our first EP and our video for "Happy That It's You!" is out soon. UK's The Mail on Sunday just reviewed us saying "they are like The Andrews Sisters re-written by Tina Fey." Kinda sums it up. Check us out. We make you laugh long time.
They won the Grammy!
Snarky Puppy's latest CD/DVD "Family Dinner, Volume 1" is a live concert that took place at The Jefferson Center in Roanoke, Virginia. Eight singers were asked to be a part of it - Lalah Hathaway, Shayna Steele, Magda Giannikou, N'Dambi, Chantae Cann, Tony Scherr and myself. Bandleader Michael League and Snarky Puppy re-created new arrangements of our original compositions, pressed record and the rest was magic.
The album just won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance for Lalah Hathaway's "Something", which is absolutely stunning. Two of my songs were featured: "He Got Away" from my Verve record "Hooked!" and one of my newer songs "Too Hot To Last" which was written by Michael League and myself. "Too Hot To Last" will also be featured on my next solo 2014 release (yes, I am working on a new record, people!).
I've collaborated a lot over the past few years with Snarky Puppy, who are total family to me - touring, writing and recording so watching this record come together was one of the most musically fulfilling weeks of my life. Aaaand the best part about the record that all proceeds will go to Music Lab, children's music program created by The Jefferson Center. Check out the videos for "Too Hot To Last" and "He Got Away". Viva pups.