Singled Out: Tobacco & Rose's Wooded Vale

(aM) Canadian music veteran Richard Moody just released the self-titled album from his new Tobacco & Rose project, and to celebrate asked him to tell us about the song "Wooded Vale." Here is the story:

"Wooded Vale" is a song that expresses the joy of being connected to nature. I wrote it while at a 10-day plant medicine retreat in the Pacific Northwest. All participants were instructed to stay silent and form a connection with the plant they were "working" with, and to observe what was going on in their field, inwardly and outwardly. I happened to have a guitar, paper, and pen with me, and so I just started documenting things I saw around me: hummingbirds, butterflies, creeks in ravines, ravens, eagles, cedar trees, mosquitos, and amazing sunsets. I like to entertain the humorous idea that I stumbled upon a simple but effective songwriting process: create a list of beautiful things and put it to music.

"Wooded Vale" was written as a simple folk song, but, for the recording, I gradually added instruments to the arrangement, hoping to capture all the activity, the gentle crescendo, that unfolds around us on a harmonious summer day.

It is, I hope, a very uplifting song, reminding us of what is real in these days of digital distraction. Many of us will agree that we have become increasingly transfixed by the allure of devices, apps, algorithms, and social media; these circle around our psyches like hungry critters preying on our attention. Maybe this song can be a small antidote to this: a chance to forget these distractions and imagine walking through the woods on a beautiful island in the Salish Sea, reveling in the glory of the natural world.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more here

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