Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, Jim Woods, Harry Likas, Mana, Cheka, Anna Netrebko, Ella Fitzgerald, Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Radiohead, Esthero, Silvio Rodriguez, Jewel
Click Here to Sign Up for our Email List! If enough people from your town sign the e-mail list, we will come to your town! So don’t be shy because you are a ways away!
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.
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
"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."
"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."
"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.
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 ian@cultureshocknews.com. Thanks for encouraging musical innovation!
For scheduling a show or for other inquiries, please message us here or write to grace(at)gracewoods.net.
just swingin through to say hello + to invite you down to hear me if you're in the mood for a lil Saturday morning/afternoon acoustic music :)
Come join me for an outstanding morning of music as I return to the extremely cool, friendly and cozy Coffee Adventures for an acoustic solo set this Saturday, May 31st @ 10AM! I'll be opening for Emith from Garden Valley + Stop Motion Poetry from Modesto.
Maaaa! Can't wait to see the emeralds glisten:) Lemme know if you, or you and Whit, will be there for dinner Sat night, we're making a reservation, nothing to fancy, we're all broke. Also, any good ideas for going out in the mission? We want a big bar where we can dance...
Hi Grace, Have fun at the Red Vic on Friday. We had a lot of fun playing there last year. We will be at the Barefoot Cafe in Santa Clara that night. It will be the first time we have played there, but we have been there before and they have awesome coffee. Keep in touch!
Come check out an hour acoustic set for my first time playing in San Mateo @ the illustrious Bacio Cafe this Thursday, January 17th @ 8PM! Thomas Boles to follow! Bacio Cafe is an Italian-inspired coffee lounge offering a wide assortment of hot, iced, or frozen coffee/espresso beverages, international beers, wines, and soju cocktails. Located in downtown San Mateo, the cafe is an ideal place to come before and after a movie, to listen to live music, to see local artists exhibiting their works, and of course to enjoy a creative menu of panini, bruschette, and tramezzini. Unlike most cafes Bacio is also unique because the door stays open late into the night! (til 10PM Sun + Wed + 12AM Thu-Sat)
Thursday, January 17th John Rybak (8PM) Bacio Cafe 220 Main Street, San Mateo 650.401.6973 www.baciocafe.com www.myspace.com/johnrybak www.myspace.com/thomasboles **and you can now find me on youtube playing live W/The American Economy by checking out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A93y9xzWnBs
Doesn't it all make sense! I remember about 3 years ago, it was all a dream - Look at you NOW! One of these days I hope to listen to you LIVE! Great hearing from you Grace!!