With his roots in the fertile musical soil of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and now based in the  singer-songwriter hotbed of southern Ontario, Woody Woodburn has been a part of the  Canadian music scene since the mid-1990s when he was a member of the band Snapper. 

In 2019 he took the leap to launch a solo career, releasing his debut EP Better Man Today, followed by another six-song collection I Am Enough in 2021, both of which showcased his  renewed passion to write songs to inspire others in overcoming life’s struggles. 

Woody’s new six-song EP Follow The Light continues his push to evolve both as a person  and as an artist, a goal accomplished with the help of producer Craig Smith (ONTARIANS,  co-founder of Four Winds Festival), along with top-notch backing from the likes of Tim  Oxford and Anthony Carone of the Arkells who contributed drums and keyboards,  respectively, to a majority of the songs. 

One of those tracks is the first single “Mario Lemieux,” a full-throated reminiscence that’s  not so much about the legendary hockey player as it is about Woody’s origin story. He  says, “The song is about selling my Mario Lemieux rookie card to buy my first guitar, a  Jasmine acoustic. It’s also about listening to my cousin’s husband play songs that my  Uncle Jimmy played when I was a kid, as he attempted to impress his father-in-law! After  that, he taught me how to play guitar when I turned 16 in exchange for a belt sander.” 

That kind of blue-collar honesty is at the heart of Woody’s music, and after so many years— not to mention so many kilometres—under his belt, he describes Follow The Light almost  like a fresh start. “I think my writing has grown from self-improvement to self understanding,” he says. “It’s progressed from wanting to be better to accepting who I am.  I might still be a bit lost, but I have full trust in my instincts as I move forward. The music itself has grown to be more spiritual in terms of asking deeper questions, while technically  structured much better. Hopefully, it will result in more listeners being drawn in.” 

Woody also credits fellow Canadian singer-songwriters Donovan Woods, Tim Baker and  Adam Baldwin for influencing his work on Follow The Light. Like them, Woody’s songs  emphasize straightforward storytelling grounded in humility. As he says, “I love how  Donovan presents himself as ‘just a chubby guy from Sarnia.’ They all remind me of the  importance of being my authentic self. I understand now that the more I try to be something  I’m not, the less people listen.” 

Each song on Follow The Light is indeed a snapshot of Woody’s life in some manner, with  these vignettes blossoming into something often more meaningful, as in the case of the title  track. “‘Follow The Light’ is about stumbling home from a bonfire at a buddy's place and  getting lost—even though he lives on my street! That got me to contemplate whether I am  just lost in general. The song’s really about looking for signs and a light to follow.” 

Many of us could surely use that light in our lives from time to time, and Woody Woodburn  is here to provide it.