About That Song: Skarlett Woods
About That Song #24
In our special series, singer-songwriter Sarah Morris interviews artists about the songs that shaped them.
Hi! I’m Sarah Morris. I’m wildly in love with songs and the people who write them. There have been a few songs in my life that have been total gamechangers—songs that made me want to be a songwriter and songs I’ve written that made me feel like I am a songwriter. About That Song is a space where I can learn more about those pivotal songs in other writers’ lives.
In the 24th installment of this series, I connected with Skarlett Woods, an artist raised (and once again living) in Minnesota whose unique singing and songwriting style brings a distinctive sound from the array of life experiences and places she’s lived. We talked about influential songs and moments in her artistic journey, as well as her new album.
Photo by Skarlett Woods.
Sarah: Hi Skarlett! Thank you so much for coming by About That Song, and congrats on the recent release of your gorgeous sophomore album, Letters To The West. Once upon a time, you and I shared a show in San Francisco, back when you were a West Coast resident. Now, Minnesota is lucky to have you back as a part of our music community. I’d love to learn more about your journey as a songwriter. Do you remember the song that you heard that made you want to be a songwriter? Tell us about that song.
Skarlett: I never wanted to be a songwriter. I’ve always wanted to be a film score composer. An example of one of my favorite songs/compositions ever—even to this day—is George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” This song clocks in at nearly 15 minutes with no lyrics at all, but the story it tells moves me every time I give it my full attention. I want to be moved by songs. I want to be pleasured by songs. I guess if anything, that is what I aim for and listen for in songs.
Sarah: Thank you for the reminder to listen to that composition—it’s been a long while. I think when you mention being moved by, being pleasured by songs—a nearly 15-minute song asks the listener to stay, to linger. There’s almost a luxury in spending that amount of time with a song. I can see where that would inspire you toward composition. Once you began writing, did you feel like a writer immediately? Or was there a song that gave you that “a-HA! I AM a songwriter!” moment? Tell us about that song.
Skarlett: To this day, I still don’t feel like I’m a songwriter, but I keep trying… I have written songs where people would approach me with much to say about my sound, or even have tears in their eyes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the “a-HA” moment. I don’t know if I’ve felt that before. I certainly feel many things with each song that comes out of me. If music is the water I swim in and I’m a fish, and you were to ask me how the water feels, I’d probably respond with something like “I don’t understand what you mean.” How can a fish know what water is? How do you find a way to have that awareness? How would I know if an “a-HA” moment has happened? Does it feel like fitting in? I find it difficult to place myself in a perspective where I can hear my music versus listening to my music.
Sarah: Well, I’m glad you keep trying because you’ve written some gorgeous music that clearly moves people. For me an “a-ha” moment feels like a clicking into alignment, or a feeling comfortable with what I’m doing in a way that means “fitting in” isn’t a consideration, for that moment anyway (before some sort of nervous voice starts popping up in my head). Is there a song that you’ve written that felt…most natural? Where you might look back and say, that happened, I was part of it, it felt satisfying? Or is the music-making fully “the water you’re swimming in”?
Skarlett: Yes, I do have a song that felt natural. It happened on my latest album. “You & I (Santa Cruz, CA)” popped out of me when I was hanging out in a Minneapolis park on a summer afternoon waiting for a gig that evening. The lyrics, the chords and the melody just all fell in my lap at once. During this time I’d been in the studio with Kevin Bowe for nearly the past year and one of the conversations we would frequently have, as I recall, was me overthinking things with my music. Things take time to sink into my head to where I can fully understand them and, during that day in the park, I just kinda let go of a part of myself that wanted to control every detail of the song.
I stopped thinking about what I “think” makes a good song and I just let the song lead the way. It felt more like speaking from some place between my heart and my gut. I trusted the knowledge that I had so far about songwriting and I let the song speak as it wanted to. That song, in my opinion, is the closest one I found that feels like “this is me.” I am so proud of it. I feel like a parent who tried to teach a child everything I know about the world in hopes that they will find a healthy, happy and fulfilling life. I stopped teaching my kid that day and I just let them be who they wanted to be.
Skarlett Woods. Photo credit: Michael K. Anderson.
Sarah: I love that analogy—kids, songs…there is often a moment when you’re asked to just let them fly, I think.
Your song, “Me, I Me, Me” has this deeply catchy melody, and playful groove, while holding the listener to task a bit—I found the combination to be incredibly effective. It also recently won the Dylan Fest Songwriter Fest (congrats!). Can you tell us about that song?
Skarlett: That song simply came from a space in me that despises social media, the way it amplifies fake news, narcissism, depression, etc. I revised the second and third verses more than any other song I’ve written before because I felt like it was important to speak my mind on this subject even though it’s hypocritical of me. Verse one sets the tone: “Why don’t you just shut up and leave me alone. I don’t care about your selfish tones. You think you know how this world should be, but all I hear from you is me, I, me, me.”
I needed a character to speak to, so I personified social media and all of its behaviors I dislike—stupidity, hatred, theft, fakeness and the murder of George Floyd. Have you ever had this feeling where so many things are going wrong and you have so little control over your life and—for no reason—you begin to laugh? The guitar groove for this song is me laughing… I don’t know how else to handle this social media world we willingly participate in, nor do I have any answers.
Sarah: The guitar groove as your laugh! Excellent. And effective. You’ve mentioned that you spent two years taking guitar lessons from 7-string jazz guitarist Bil Leonhart in an effort to challenge yourself, and that the process was akin to “two years of unlearning the guitar.” I imagine that had an impact on your songwriting as well. Do you recall the first song that emerged from out of this “unlearning”? Can you tell us about that song?
Skarlett: “A Time For Truth” was the first song that sprouted from my lessons with Bil. Rhythm and meter is one of my favorite marriages in music. Bil taught me that a melody without words can tell a story just as well as lyrics can. He introduced me to contrapuntal (counterpoint). I actually think that alone blew my world open and made “un-learning” the guitar much more tolerable. It felt as though I could maybe/perhaps find my voice with just a guitar and vocals. “A Time For Truth” was my first experience/attempt with that world and it has only expanded from there.
Sarah: What a gift to have had a teacher like Bil. One last question! Where can we hear you sing that song, or any other song for that matter, in the near future?
Skarlett: A good spot to find where to hear me sing at a show is at my website. I also have Facebook and Instagram, but those are used sparingly with much discomfort (shows are posted there though).
Listen to “Me, I Me, Me”
Letters To The West Album Credits
Music & lyrics by Skarlett Woods
Album artwork & design by Skarlett Woods
Produced by Kevin Bowe & Skarlett Woods
Edited & Mixed by Kevin Bowe
Mastered by Bruce Templeton
Noah Levy - Drums (Tracks 3,4,6,7)
Peter Anderson - Drums (Tracks 2,5,10)
Kevin Bowe - Bass (Tracks 2,3,6,7,10) & Electric Guitar (Tracks 10,6)
Rick Manik - Saxophone
Dave Budimir - Trombone
Tommy Barbarella - Wurlitzer & B3 Organ (Tracks 7,10)
Gregory Byers - Violin, Viola, Cello (Track 5)
Skarlett Woods - Vocals, 7-string Nylon Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Electric Sitar, Banjo, Keyboards, Beat Noises, Mouth Trumpet, Harmonies
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Morris. Photo credit: Tom Smouse.
Sarah Morris is a superfan of songs and the people who write them, and a believer that certain songs can change your life. A singer-songwriter / mama / bread maker / coffee drinker who recently released her fifth album of original material, she’s been known to joyfully sing with people in her Big Green Bathroom.
