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Who We Are:
IF Ben Fold’s Five and Tori Amos collaborated to write a Broadway musical sung by Ella Fitzgerald, that would sound like the Berkeley-based Grace Woods Trio. A fierce blonde bombshell with a rich theatrical voice writes lyric-driven, upbeat melodies, backed up by stylish drumming, bass and male vocal harmonies. You’ve never heard anything like their original Jazz Pop. They also do Pop Rock cover tunes for special events.
Our Story:
Current Project: After the success of their self-titled EP in 2006, the Grace Woods Trio released a full album "Metaphoreality" January 27th 2008. It’s an extended project from the crazy and sometimes self-terrorizing imagination of Grace Woods. Hear full song previews at gracewoodstrio.com and BUY THE CD METAPHOREALITY
Band Creation: The Grace Woods Trio, signified by the ninja star of 3 intersecting Gs, came to be in the two first magical weeks of February 2005. Grace Woods had written a sleu of introspective tunes, of which she was performing regularly at open mics. Joe Hickey, the stylisticly unique bassist and vocally gifted singer-songwriter, heard Grace perform "Papier Mache" at the Blake’s open mic in Berkeley and decided then and there that he had to be a part of the project. In the same two weeks a certain Berkeley-born drummer, Whitney Jacobson, began relentlessly "myspacing" Grace with the insistence that she needed his drumming skills. Persistence paid off and the two have been living together amidst a plethora of instruments ever since. The Trio had their first show two weeks after that and have since been inseparable. With more and more collaboration and the hope of getting to know more people who care about original, melodic music, the Grace Woods Trio is determined to make a living out of the rollercoaster ride that is the music business.
Real Blog
Video
Podcast
Lyrics
MERCHANDISE: American Apparel made our T-Shirts and the local legend, Like Minded People printed them. You can get one now online or at a show! To browse and order, click on T-Shirts
EPK
Press:
"There’s a hint of Fiona Apple in the way Grace Woods modulates her voice from high to low and sing to speak, though Woods’ wide range causes her to sometimes drift past the sweet spot. Musically, the trio - piano, bass, and drums - explores dark pop from a jazz perspective."
- Nate Seltenrich for the East Bay Express
Click Here for the "Local Licks" Article.
"GRACE-FUL ENDING: The East Bay’s own Grace Woods Trio celebrates the release of its new CD, "Metaphoreality," on Jan. 27 at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley. Show time is 8 p.m. Since there’s no football this weekend, there’s no good excuse for not going out to hear a band that’s been described as a mix of the Ben Folds Five, Tori Amos and Ella Fitzgerald. In my book, that’s two-thirds of a really intriguing mix -- I’ll let you guess how my math breaks down."
-Jim Harrington of the Contra Costa Times
Click Here to Read the Article
"The Bay Area singer-songwriter-pianist has been compared to Fiona Apple and Tori Amos, but her favorite band is Fleetwood Mac. I’ve no idea what that means, but I’ve heard good things about this trio."
-Randy McMullen of the Contra Costa Times
Click the following for the Contra Costa Times article The Week’s Top 10 Events featuring the GWT album release.
"An English major and graduate of UCLA, Grace’s lyrics are demonstrative of her academic stature. Woods brings an interesting dimension to the table referencing her indigenous roots."
-Orinda News
The Grace Woods Trio received more votes in one night than any of the other 135 bands for the 2007 San Francisco Emergenza Festival Battle of the Bands. Did I mention that they rallied the top number of votes as the opening band on a Thursday night? Needless to say, the Trio made it through 4 rounds to the championship and proved as they do again and again, that the music brings pleasure and people to every venue.
"what we are missing in this electronic world."
-Ian Moore of KCEG Jazzbeat Radio 99.7FM Oakland
Grace has also won "Best Song" for "Papier Mache" in the East Bay Chapter and "Best Performance" for her presentation of "Johnny and Me" in the Sacramento Chapter of the West Coast Songwriter’s Association.
Grace’s music has been featured on the MothPod podcast for Independent Music. Grace’s most recent interviews include a feature on "Jammin Dave Jackson’s" Musician’s Cooler and an in studio performance and interview for Oakland’s Jazz Beat Radio 99.7 FM.
More Press ...
Info for Bookers
2006-2008 Venues and Fairs include the following:
Monterey Wine and Fine Living Festival , Caffe Trieste , the Great American Music Hall, the Walnut Festival , Pier 39 , the Make Out Room , the Rockit Room , Anna’s Jazz Island , Haight Ashbury Street Fair , Jupiter , Stockton Asparagus Festival , the Bubble Lounge , the Bistro (Hayward), Opening Day on the Bay, El Rio , Jack London Square, the Poleng Lounge , Harlow’s (Sacto) , Oakland Metro Opera House, The Cannery at Fisherman’s Warf , Fairfax Pavillion (Katrina Benefit), Monterey FallFest, People’s Park (Benefit for Homeless), "Music that Cooks" (Benefit for Homeless), Sacramento Earth Day Festival , The Uptown Niteclub , Eli’s Mile High Niteclub , Blondie’s Bar , Joe’s of Lafayette , Time Out , Freight and Salvage , the Orinda Fourth of July Parade, Acalanes High School Choral Fundraiser , Lake Temescal Farmer’s Market, Mendocino Art in the Gardens , Oakland Artisan Marketplace, Benicia Peddler’s Fair, Pleasant Hill Art and Wine Festival, Vacaville Farmer’s Market, Sacramento Town and Country Brewery, Blake’s , A ’Cuppa Tea, the Nomad , Brainwash Cafe , the Red Victoria Hotel , the Revolution Cafe, Redwood City Plaza, Oakland Artisan Marketplace, Luna’s Cafe, Highschool-Middle School Mentoring Summit for Girls, the Eon Cafe (Hayward), Orinda Arts Council Showcase , Art on Main Street (Walnut CreeK), Mama Art Cafe , the Missouri Lounge, the Beale Street Bar, Mc Govern’s in San Mateo, It’s a Grind Coffeehouse (Sacto), Java City (Sacto), the Bazaar Cafe , private parties and many more..
A Recent E-mail from a Fan:
Hey Grace,
You probably already know I really dig "Just This
Once" but I wanted to tell you that I just don’t dig
it, but believe it to be a great song. I just reread
the lyrics now, and there’s just so much there we can
all relate to profoundly--anybody who’s been in those
angered helpless landscapes in love. There are levels
and dimensions to those words, ironies and pain, that
go deep. Again, it’s a profound song, one that has
affected me powerfully. But I promise I won’t keep
requesting THAT one every time you play ;)
Love,
Tim
WANT TO HELP? Bring all of your friends to a show, e-mail people the songs, paste our banner from the ABOUT section onto your website, e-mail your favorite blog author/newspaper about us, ask your principal to have us play at your school, mention us to your favorite club/winery owner or have us play at your private party. If you are on myspace, tell your friends to check us out. Thanks for helping to spread the word!
REQUEST US!
Call 707-664-2623 to contact KSUN, the internet radio station run by Sonoma State University, and request anything from the Grace Woods Trio. By doing so, you can sit back and enjoy live streaming from the web at sonoma.edu/ksun while spreading our music to college students and other listeners! Just open it through iTunes and enjoy while you work. Live in the Berkeley area? Request us on KALX 90.7FM by calling (510) 642-KALX! On the FM airwaves, call (510) 465-7487 to request, for instance, "Johnny and Me", on internet jazzbeat radio and 97.7 and 88.1 FM in Oakland. Or you can e-mail the request to [email protected]. Thanks for encouraging musical innovation!
For scheduling a show or for other inquiries, please message us here or write to grace(at)gracewoods.net.