Donovan Woods

About

The artist

Donovan Woods is a folk and country singer-songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario. Raised in Sarnia, he began writing songs as a teenager and released the early EP The Yukon Is Kept Mine in 2005 before his first album, The Hold Up, in 2007. His catalog developed through The Widowmaker, Don't Get Too Grand, Hard Settle, Ain't Troubled, Both Ways, Without People, and Things Were Never Good If They're Not Good Now. The latter album was long-listed for the 2025 Polaris Music Prize. Woods won the 2019 JUNO Award for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year with Both Ways. Alongside his own recordings, he has built a Nashville songwriting practice, with songs recorded by artists including Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Charles Kelley, Hailey Whitters, Barenaked Ladies, Ben Platt, and Phillip Phillips. His writing often focuses on relationships, loss, family, vulnerability, and the emotional weight of everyday conversation. Woods returned in February 2026 with the five-song EP Squander Your Gifts, dedicated to his late friend and writing partner Abe Stoklasa, and was scheduled for his Grand Ole Opry debut in July 2026. Two independent direct interviews provide the current location evidence: in April 2024 he spoke from his Toronto home, and in October 2024 he described himself as a singer-songwriter from Toronto. Current official releases, tour activity, and team information show that his career remains active. His Nashville work is documented as a songwriting and touring relationship, not as a replacement for the aligned Toronto home evidence. Spotify, Apple Music, MusicBrainz, and the official site resolve to the same artist and catalog. Exact English and French payloads, including contact instructions, were reviewed before approval, only public professional routing is exposed, Spotify media remains live and provider-attributed, and the profile is sourced and unclaimed.