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Donovan Woods On World Cafe

A couple nights before Donovan Woods came in to World Cafe I went to see his show in Philadelphia and I was standing next to a guy who had never heard of Woods before. Once the applause died down after the first song, the man said to himself, "Wow."

It was almost funny but also not surprising. I've seen this happen a bunch of times when I'm with somebody who hears Donovan's music for the first time. And I'm hoping that's what'll happen today on this show.

Woods is Canadian but got invited down to Nashville in an email that was so unbelievable and so out of the blue it could have just as easily ended up in his junk mail, but instead ended up changing his life. Donovan found success writing with Nashville scenesters like Abe Stoklasa (who's written for and with the likes of Blake Shelton, Anderson East and Martina McBride). Donovan's songs have been recorded by country heavyweights including Tim McGraw and Charles Kelley from Lady Antebellum. We'll talk about all that, and hear Donovan perform songs from his new solo album called Both Ways. Hear it all in the player.

Copyright 2018 XPN

Talia Schlanger hosts World Cafe, which is distributed by NPR and produced by WXPN, the public radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. She got her start in broadcasting at the CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster. She hosted CBC Radio 2 Weekend Mornings on radio and was the on-camera host for two seasons of the television series CBC Music: Backstage, as well as several prime-time music TV specials for CBC, including the Quietest Concert Ever: On Fundy's Ocean Floor. Schlanger also guest hosted various flagship shows on CBC Radio One, including As It Happens, Day 6 and Because News. Schlanger also won a Canadian Screen Award as a producer for CBC Music Presents: The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions, a cross-country rock 'n' roll road trip.