ARMED with an undeniable talent, Lucy Woodward has blended a variety of influences - blue-eyed soul, rock, pop - into a style that's all her own. "WHILE YOU CAN," her Atlantic debut - produced by John Shanks (the Corrs, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks) and Kevin Kadish - marries Woodward's strong and sexy vocals with a delightfully melodic modern sound. From the widescreen ballad, "Standing" to the playfully pointed first single, "Dumb Girls," "WHILE YOU CAN" marks the arrival of a captivating and irresistible new artist. "I went into this project with the feeling that it's time for something different in pop music," the 25-year-old New Yorker says. "I think that people are really ready for some original sounds. You can hear my roots in this music, but I hope that I've made something that's fresh, something that will satisfy people's craving for music that's honest and soulful."
Born in England, then spending her early years in Amsterdam, Lucy grew up surrounded by music. Both parents are accredited musicologists - her father is a composer and conductor for the BBC, while her mother is an opera singer and teacher - and as such, she was raised on a healthy diet of classical, jazz, opera, and the Beatles.
"I knew from when I was very young how important music is," Woodward recalls. "That's just the way our house was run."
After moving with her mom to New York City, Lucy studied piano and flute at an early age, taking her first voice lessons at 14. Inspired by R&B superstars like Aretha Franklin and Etta James, she began her professional career in her late teens, working as a singer-for-hire, lending her expressive voice to coffeehouse jams, commercials and studio sessions. Having spent so much time in caf?s and recording studios, Woodward gained both a knowledge of her craft as well as an understanding of what she needed to do on her own record.
"I was really good at making my voice adapt to the job," she says, "making my voice sound a certain way, whether it was for a commercial or a pop demo. But when it came to recording my own music, I wanted to sing with my true voice."
In addition to her remarkable vocal gifts, Woodward is also a talented songwriter, co-writing the album with such tunesmiths as Vini Poncia (Kiss, The Ronettes, Ringo Starr), Jamie Houston (Macy Gray, O-Town), Shelly Peiken (Brandy), and Sabelle Breer (Avril Lavigne). Having penned much of the album's lyrics and melodies, Lucy is quick to give credit where credit's due, noting how much she enjoys the collaborative process.
"As a writer, I really enjoy having someone else's opinion and outlook on my work," she says. "You have someone there to push you. You, in turn, push them, and the creative juices really flow. One person raises the bar, then the other person raises the bar, and result is really positive."
While her professional relationships have proven successful, "Dumb Girls" - the album's first single/video - was inspired, like e so many classic pop songs, by the end of a romance.
"It's about thinking that it could never happen to you," Lucy explains. "You think that everything's going so well, so you fool yourself into thinking your relationship is invincible, like 'He'll never break up with me.' But that's not always how it works out."
Despite the track's rich rock sound, "Dumb Girls" - co-written with Kadish (who's penned material for Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow) - is actually Lucy's original demo recording. "Kevin has a little bedroom studio where we did our initial demos," she says. "'Dumb Girls' came out so beautifully, we barely did anything to it other than adding a little guitar. I didn't even re-sing it. It was just perfect."
The majority of "WHILE YOU CAN" was recorded in the summer and fall of 2002 at the historic Jim Henson Studios in Los Angeles. The nine Shanks-helmed tracks feature the veteran producer/musician on guitar, playing alongside a veritable who's who of studio talent, including drummers Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, Bob Dylan) and Abe Laboriel Jr. (Paul McCartney, Vanessa Carlton), bassists Pino Palladino (the Who, Eric Clapton) and Mike Elizondo (Mary J. Blige, Eminem), and keyboardists Jamie Muhoberac (the Rolling Stones, Faith Hill) and Patrick Warren (Fiona Apple, Macy Gray). The two Kadish-produced songs feature a band of lesser-known - though no less accomplished - players: Kadish and Ty Stevens on guitar, bassist Thad Wadhams (Sheryl Crow, O-Town), keyboardist Greg Bieck (Destiny's Child, Josh Groban), and drummer Denny Weston Jr. (Laura Satterfield).
"It was so exciting working with all these incredible musicians," Lucy beams. "They brought so much to the sound of the record and by the end of the sessions, we had all become very good friends."
Backed by such a top crop of talent, Lucy displays a potent emotive range and ability on tracks like the inspirational "What's Good For Me" and the haunting "Blindsided" -written in the days following 9/11 and is as, Lucy says, "a love song, but it's also really about New York City." The path from NYC coffeehouse to "WHILE YOU CAN" may have been long and winding, but for Lucy Woodward, the journey has been well worth the effort
"I'm so happy with this record," she beams. "I feel like I've really gotten everything out of my system - for this round. I had an amazing team around me, it was so creative, there was such a great vibe. I'm still pinching myself, like, 'I can't believe this is happening!' But at the same time, I can believe it. I put a lot of work into it, and now I'm just excited that people are going to hear this music that I'm so proud of."
