New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Donovan Woods, Polaris and JUNO Award nominee and Rolling Stone Country's latest "artist you need to know," releases "Our Friend Bobby" today. It's the third single from 'Both Ways,' (April 20th, Meant Well) his coming collection of colorful and lyrically expansive musical vignettes.
"Our Friend Bobby" is a disconcerting, deeply intimate reckoning with the mysterious death of a childhood friend. "Cops found him on a Sunday / So we all met up Monday night" encapsulates the haunting drama of the suspicious circumstances behind the car-related tragedy.
Of Donovan and the track, PopMatters says it "feels like modern folk music's antecedent…a testament to Woods, as a songwriter, to have drawn these meditations into the song to begin with, and as a performer to have let them permeate so naturally."
Brimming with characters and settings, 'Both Ways' is inspired by the Canadian Gothic of Alice Munro and the feminist poetry of Bronwen Wallace, examining life's mundanities and grandeur with delicate and deliberate detail.
"Our Friend Bobby" follows "Truck Full of Money," an epically composed single about the realities of life on the road that trades "outlaw twang and a driving beat for sweeping strings and heavy guitar" (American Songwriter), and "Burn That Bridge" a love song brought to life in an "absolutely gorgeous" (Billboard) video spotlighting the powerful, blossoming choreography of two male dancers whose friendship turns into an ultimately ill-fated romance.
Since establishing himself in Nashville as a songwriter writing for and with the likes of Tim McGraw, Charles Kelley (Lady Antebellum),
Billy Currington and Charlie Worsham, Donovan has built a name as an artist in his own right, earning over 50M streams, multiple #1s on Canadian national charts, including "Burn That Bridge," and more than 1.2M+ monthly Spotify listeners for his richly orchestrated, universal songs.
Donovan hits the road this month, and brings his witty, emotionally endearing live show to the US in May- see full routing below.
Saturday, April 21 - Montreal, QC, Canada @ Le Ministere
Sunday, April 22 - Ottawa, ON, Canada -
National Arts Centre (NAC)
Wednesday, April 25 - Toronto, ON, Canada - Danforth
Music Hall
Thursday, April 26 - Edmonton, AB, Canada - Starlite Room
Saturday, April 28 - Calgary, AB, Canada - SAIT's the Gateway
Sunday, April 29 - Regina, SK, Canada - The Exchange
Monday, April 30 - Saskatoon, SK, Canada - Broadway Theatre
Friday, May 4 - Los Angeles, CA, US @ Hotel Cafe
Sunday, May 6 - Philadelphia, PA, US @ Bourbon & Branch
Tuesday, May 8 - Brooklyn, NY, US @ Knitting Factory
Wednesday, May 16 - Peterborough, ON, Canada @ Market Hall
Thursday, May 17 - Paris, ON, Canada @ Dominion Telegraph Event Centre
Sunday, May 20 - Beverungen, Germany @
Orange Blossom Special Festival 2018
Monday, May 21 - Utrecht, Netherlands @ TivoliVredenburg
Wednesday, May 23 - Borgerhout, Belgium @ TRIX Centrum voor Muziek
Friday, May 25 - London, UK @ The Borderline
Tuesday, May 29 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ VEGA Musikkens Hus -
Ideal Bar
Wednesday, May 30 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Nalen Klubb
Friday, June 1 - Berlin, Germany @ Kantine am Berghain
Sunday, June 24 - Kingston, ON, Canada @ Skeleton Park Arts Festival 2018
Thursday, July 5 - Sunday, July 8 - Winnipeg, MB, Canada @ Winnipeg Folk Festival 2018
Saturday, August 18 - Elora, ON, Canada @ Riverfest Elora 2018
Saturday,
September 22 - Sunday,
September 23 - Franklin, TN @ Pilgrimage Festival 2018