Amid Destruction, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings Birth “Woodland”

On the night of March 2nd into early March 3rd, 2020, a complex of ten tornadoes ripped through middle Tennessee, including right in the heart of East Nashville’s Five Points neighborhood and Woodland Street. 22 people were killed in the tornado breakout, including two individuals struck with flying debris in the Five Points: Michael Dolfini, 36, and his girlfriend, Albree Sexton, 33.

Though it was the beloved music venue the Basement East with its iconic “I Believe in Nashville” mural that struck a nerve when images of the destroyed building were broadcast nationwide, Nashville nearly lost another important music institution in the strong EF-3 tornado: The Woodland Studios owned by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Along with hosting countless studio sessions over the years, the building also happened to house the musical archive from the duo’s career and Gillian Welch’s solo work.

When the tornado ripped the roof off the studio like the top of a sardine can and then it proceeded to rain for four straight hours, the ceiling started caving in. Welch and Rawlings had to navigate through the wreckage and retrieve all the archive material before it was destroyed. Welch ended up releasing the saved recordings in a series of albums called Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs.

The good news is that just like The Basement East, Woodland Studios has been rebuilt. And just as the studio has been brought back to life, so has a batch of new songs to be released under the title Woodland on August 23 on Gillian Welch’s and David Rawlings’ own record label, Acony.

“Woodland is at the heart of everything we do, and has been for the last twenty some years,” the duo says. “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.”

The ten tracks from the duo’s 10th official studio album are said to be a mix of full band songs and more intimate duo performances. It will be the first album from Welch and Rawlings since 2020’s release of covers and classics called All the Good Times that won them a Grammy Award, and the duo’s first original album since 2017’s Poor David’s Almanack.

Ahead of the album they’ve released the song “Empty Trainload of Sky” (listen below). Woodland is now available for pre-order and pre-save.

Track List:

1. Empty Trainload Of Sky
2. What We Had
3. Lawman
4. The Bells And The Birds
5. North Country
6. Hashtag
7. The Day The Mississippi Died
8. Turf The Gambler
9. Here Stands A Woman
10. Howdy Howdy