Woven Green

What's the meaning behind the band's name?

[Jim] The name Woven Green was originally inspired from the lines of a Walt Whitman poem called, Song of Myself:

             

            “A child said What is the grass? Fetching it to me with full hands;

            How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.

            I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.”

What I love about the simple honesty of these lines is that Whitman turns a question into an invitation, pregnant with possibilities.  So the name Woven Green was born from that space and thus, has come to have different meanings.  Form some people the name suggests a sort of “state “of liberation.”   For others, they see a strong nature theme presented here, and since some of our songs address environmental themes, Woven Green has in a way become an iconic symbol of the “green movement.”

How the band started?? 

I met Ashley in 2002 while we were both students at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.  We began making music shortly thereafter and were married in 2005.  In 2008, Franz joined us to form the beginnings of Woven Green. 

The completion of the group came with Zujey in August of 2009.

What's the message to transmit with your music??  Ours is a universal message encouraging people to honor the “path with heart” so to speak, and to help illuminate one’s potential for greatness.  We are constantly bombarded with negative imagery; the world is seemingly falling apart.  And as these challenges seem to grow, we’re often left feeling powerless and useless. Basically what we’re saying is that there is a way to reclaim that part of ourselves that has been rendered docile, by transforming our day-to-day reality into an opportunity to live a meaningful life.   And that starts by embracing the present moment instead of using it as a means to an end.  This in turn allows us to act from the seat of compassion, rather than fear and resistance.   What follows is joyful participation in the world, a conscientious act of bringing ourselves into a more harmonious relationship with the planet.

What's your method at the time of writing a song??  It begins with finding a quiet place.  I refer to this as “sacred space.”  Sometimes it can be a place in the forest, a field, or in a closed room free from distractions.  You have to create opportunities to write, but you also have to sense when the muse is on.  And most of the time you know when the muse is on.  When it’s not on you can’t force it and you can’t beat yourself up when you’re not able to summon that creative energy.  When it’s really burning hot, it’s no longer an effort it just flows through you.  Sometimes I’ll go months without writing and then all of sudden I’ll get the itch and crank out a few songs in a day. 

Once the basic form of the a song is established, the second step is to introduce it to Ashley so that she can create her own way of vocally expressing the meaning of the song.  From there, Ashley and I present the raw form of the song to the band, and Franz and Zujey arrange their own parts.   We all work together to allow the arrangements to develop organically, giving the song a chance to live and breathe.

Which is your music influences?? Each of us have our own influences as well as ones that our shared.   We have many, but we’ll just list a few:  Dave Matthews, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Michael Hedges, Paul Simon, Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, Eva Cassidy, The Dirty Projectors, The Cocteau Twins, and Evanascense.

What plans do you guys have for the future??  We plan to continue to play music with heart.   Presently we’re content with being independent musicians, however, if the right record label came knocking we would certainly entertain the prospect.  Each of us believe that Woven Green has true potential to reach a wider audience, so we are creatively working on ways to get our music heard.

Which has been the funniest prank you guys have been or took part while on tour or after a show??  While not necessarily a prank - but really funny: We were playing in Cape May New Jersey, and staying in a really old Victorian hotel.  It was the first weekend of the season for the hotel, so some of the rooms weren’t fully prepared for guests.  After the show, Ashley and I showed Franz to his room.  When we opened the door it was about 40 degrees in there and the tiny little bed totally made the room look like something from the Exorcist!  We were all already thinking that this place was probably haunted, but the image of Franz’s room just made the whole thing really funny!  We expected to come back in a few hours and find Franz possessed and hovering over the bed. 

If you guys were stranded in the middle of nowhere after a show or while on tour. The help is 65 miles away from where you guys are, ¿Who would you guys send to look for help? And if while the rest wait, there's no food and the only way to feed yourself is by eating each other, ¿Who would you eat first?

Ok. So we’ve all discussed this at length and decided that we would only eat each other if someone died first.  Its likely either Zujey or Jim would go for help.

Which country you guys would love to play?

Of course, Zujey would love to play in her native country of Venezuela.  But we’d all be pretty thrilled about a Europe tour.

With which bands you guys would love to share stage??

Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson, Carlos Santana, and all the great bands we haven’t met yet!

Are you guys OK, with the direction the band is going actually?

Certainly!  The four of us have only been together for a little over a year, so we are very proud of where we are.  The future looks bright for Woven Green!

 

Check out more: http://www.myspace.com/wovengreen