Review | Joe Woodard, ‘Goleta Electric’

Prolific arts writer and longtime musical collaborator Joe Woodard steps out as a neo-folk songwriter on Goleta Electric. The album, which was recorded at the artist’s home studio during the pandemic, features musicians Jim Connolly, Zach Gill, Chris Symer, Brian Mann, and Bill Flores along with backing vocals by Ellen Turner, Allegra Heidelinde, Julie Christensen, and Shelly Rudolph. Quirky, literate, and uncompromising, Woodard’s tunes will appeal to listeners who favor the dry end of the 21st-century folk scene. Recalling similar intimate solo efforts by such artists as Jay Farrar and Jim O’Rourke, this is music for winter nights by the fire with a glass of something equally precious and well distilled. Credit Jim Connolly in particular for enhancing the album’s gorgeous sonic palette. Listen here on Bandcamp. 

This edition of ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on April 12, 2024. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.