Woody Moran

SOLD OUT. It had been almost two years since we were on a stage due to the pandemic. We got a phone call from our friends with the band Night Folk who wondered if we would like to split a performance date with them at Cafe Artichoke in Portland, OR... inside, but masked and vaxxed. As it turned out, we were just finishing the recording of a new EP (more on that later) and we thought it might be a good thing to actually play these new songs for some folks. The night of the show, doors opened and a flood of people came into the venue. People that showed up 20 minutes early were left hunting for seats! Night Folk opened with some really fun songs, I remember one about male strippers at a Dairy Queen, but that's another story. We played our new songs at the top of the set and even received a standing ovation on the song Land of Plenty. So it appears that we may be naming our new EP "Land of Plenty". A big thank you to Gary (video) and Michael (audio) for making us look and sound so good. And of course, thank you to the boys in Night Folk for the invitation!

Radio Stranger was excited to join Beth Wood, Anna Tivel, Aireene Espiritu and host Bill Valenti on August 26th for the first viral performance of Art of the Protest Song. In 2014, Bill Valenti launched the Art of the Protest Song series, a celebration of this unique musical genre, with shows combining both “classic” protest songs from social/political movements throughout history, and contemporary, original songs on the events and issues of today. Bill has produced live shows on this theme throughout the country, including a show at Grammy Museum Experience in the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. But now, as a result of Covid-19, we enter the virtual age of performance...

"AFTER THE STORM" The year was 2017 and Donald Trump had just taken office when Woody Moran and song writing partner Kelly Brightwell sat down for a writing session. As usual, they started their session with a little chat about what was going on and their thoughts on various subjects. These preliminary chats almost always open a doorway for a new song and this occasion was no exception. 

The subject was Trump and what the world would be like in 2020 after four years of his "leadership". As terrible as we envisioned it, we never imagined the reality: Family separations, imprisonment, and the deaths of immigrant children; Dismantling the pandemic response team and muzzling the CDC; Massive tax cuts for the rich and large corporations to the detriment of middle and lower income families as well as small business; Disregard of climate change; Coverup and corruption leading to his impeachment; Attacks on the news media as well as social media; The lies... so many lies every day of his presidency.  

In America right now, we are weathering the perfect storm: political unrest meets social inequality meets climate change meets pandemic. This song is a call for us to wake up to the changes that are happening in real time, and act where we can to protect what we collectively hold dear -- before it's too late. "Did you really think you'd get out unharmed?" To watch the video, just click the image to the left (and don't forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel).

It's been much too long since Radio Stranger has been in the studio to record some new songs, but with the help of our good friend and bassist, Michael Henchman, we have released two new singles into the world. The first song is called "Barefoot Nightlife" which expresses a desire to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, such as... walking barefoot on the beach in the moonlight. For this "island" song, Woody plays ukulele, Jean-Pierre Garau plays Wurly piano, organ and accordion, Jeffrey Anthony gives it a strong reggae vibe on drums and Michael Henchman provides a fun melodic bass line. And yes, there is a video. Thank you for asking. Just click the image and it will take you to our video on Youtube. Don't forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel.

Our 2nd new single is "Top Of The World" and no, it doesn't sound anything like the old Carpenter's hit. In fact, if you are a fan of "The Lumineers", "Mumford & Sons", or Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros" you'll recognize the bass drum groove right away. Lots of cool sonic textures with Woody on acoustic guitar, Jeffrey Koch on electric guitar, Jean-Pierre Garau once again on Wurly, organ and accordion, Mr. Henchman on bass, with Donald Sulzer in the drum chair this time. Kelly's vocal on the bridge is so powerful. There is also a fun choir-like breakdown that almost got out of control but Michael managed to rein it in before it blew up on us. "Top Of The World" is dedicated to Kelly's Mom and her journey walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrim trail in Spain several years ago. To watch the video, just click the image to the left (and don't forget to subscribe to our Youtube channel).

Bryan Emerson asked Kelly and Woody to write a love song for his wife Anne. So we set up a time to get together and talk about it. Although we knew that Bryan was a musician and played a mean guitar, we were a little surprised when he showed up with his Breedlove acoustic. Bryan told us that he had been experimenting with an open tuning and wanted to show it to us, just in case we were inspired. The tuning was D-A-E-F#-A-E, and Bryan showed us some progressions and chord shapes that he had worked out using this tuning. Bryan was obviously in love with his wife Anne, and said that she reminded him of a museum of fine art. So, art, picnics at a local winery with their kids and friends became the basis of the song. Kelly asked the best question when she inquired if he had a pet name for Anne, and he told us yes... it's Annabelle.

Learn more about Custom Songs from Brightwell & Moran.