Gillian Welch and David Rawlings- Woodland Studios
Label: Acony
Producer: David Rawlings
Named in tribute to their personal Nashville studio that was ravaged by tornados back in 2020, Woodland Studios proves to be a proud homage to all of the musical magic that this royal roots couple crafted in that space through the years. This may only be their second proper set credited to themselves as a pair (following a covers album also attributed to that infamous year of ’20), but Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have truly been a singular artistic force for nearly a quarter-century, spanning across both artist’s esteemed careers. They sound as beautifully and potently unified as ever throughout Woodland, proving once again that the gritty folk and muddy-water soul that defines their raw musical identities remains among the most gorgeously revelatory across all corners of popular music. Welch’s uniquely primitive voice still sounds as if it could have been discovered during the Bristol Sessions, boasting a rugged soul & twang combination that would be as timelessly moving in any century. Per usual, Rawlings is more than willing to step aside and allow Welch to take the spotlight, and we certainly cannot fault him for that. It’s a damn-near out-of-body experience to hear her gracing original material for the first time in thirteen years, with ghostly renderings like “Empty Trainload of Sky”, “The Bells and the Birds”, “The Day the Mississippi Died”, and the slow-burning “Here Stands a Woman” ranking among the best renderings of her entire career. Rawlings is no side-piece however, whether he’s channeling Neil Young on moments like “What We Had”, Bob Dylan on the amusing “Turf the Gambler”, or James Taylor on the charming “Hashtag”, it’s clear that he’d have a more towering reputation as a folk giant of our time if he would merely record more frequently. And in the producer’s helm, he once again soars as the musical compass on this record in the same graceful fashion he has on both his and Welch’s records for over two decades. His stunning ability to maximize the harrowing emotions out of the sparsest acoustic arrangements remains in a class all his own, but he is also unafraid to dabble when the setting calls for it, incorporating a fuller steel-country sound or a lush orchestral backdrop in perfectly timed moments that escalate the emotional nuance of songs in sublimely subtle but powerful fashion. As on any Welch or Rawlings recording, the musicianship is exquisitely complimentary to the intimate power of both the eloquent singing and wrenching lyricism found throughout. As their first properly billed collaborative record of all original material, Woodland Studios can’t help but feel like a grand and climactic moment that we’ve been waiting for from both of them for ages. It certainly lives up to that stature; it’s a towering modern folk achievement, and one that we hope they won’t take as long to follow-up. Simply put, music is rarely as simultaneously accessible and other-worldly as it so magnificently is on a Welch-Rawlings record.
Track Listing:
- “Empty Trainload of Sky” (Gillian Welch, David Rawlings)
- “What We Had” (Welch, Rawlings)
- “Lawman” (Welch, Rawlings)
- “The Bells and the Birds” (Welch, Rawlings)
- “North Country” (Welch, Rawlings)
- “Hashtag” (Welch, Rawlings)
- “The Day the Mississippi Died” (Welch, Rawlings)
- “Turf the Gambler” (Welch, Rawlings)
- “Here Stands a Woman” (Welch, Rawlings)
- “Howdy Howdy” (Welch, Rawlings)
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