NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A major Nashville songwriter has written for Kenny Rogers, Charley Pride, the Oak Ridge Boys, Conway Twitty, and Alabama. The song he's just released sums up 2024 in a way you're going to have to hear for yourself.
It was pretty early on Wood Newton got the bug for writing songs. Wednesday morning, he was in the middle of a songwriting session with singer Carl Ray.
"A lot of times when we write, we write the chorus first," Wood said, guitar in hand.
Wood's past writing credits include Bobbie Sue by The Oak Ridge Boys and Twenty Years Ago by Kenny Rogers.
"This is 1979," Wood said holding up a vinyl of his own album.
What brought about his bug for writing music with people was the church and what he grew up hearing on the radio.
"I'm old enough to remember hearing Hank Williams Sr. live on a Shreveport, Louisiana station," Wood said.
The inspiration for the song Wood's just put out is all around us.
Wood began singing the lyrics;
"They crawl up from the upper floors of Hades.
Hell, even the devil needs a break.
Every 13 years, they assault our ears, and deafen us with the sound that they make.
The aliens have landed, this must be the end of days."
Now on Spotify and YouTube and other music platforms, Wood's new release is Cicada Serenade.
Wood said he first wrote the song 13 years ago during the time of those cicadas. He felt he missed the moment and sat the song on a shelf, only to bring it out now.
"I went out with my guitar tuner, and I found out what the note was," Wood said. "It was a D flat. I thought, 'I'll write a song with just one chord the whole way through, and so I did!'"
That's the thing about writing music, you've got to have the bug.
For people of my generation, in our younger days we spent part of our weekends watching music shows like American Bandstand and Soul Train. That was before the age of music videos. Several years before Soul Train was syndicated out of Chicago, another syndicated R&B show was taped in Nashville at NewsChannel 5. Night Train aired in the 60s and included what may have been the first TV appearance for legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Forrest Sanders has another great look back at station history.
-Lelan Statom
