A personal web site dedicated to those of us for whom the music is enough.

"...But if you listened very closely and looked into his eyes,
you could see the universe wrapped up in disguise
You could hear the ocean roaring, you could feel the silent spring
And you knew you'd never measure up once you heard Millard sing"
-- from the song 'The Minstrel' - Art Podell 2010

For my money, Nick was the soul of The New Christy Minstrels of 1962. His licorice voice and powerful influence were indelibly stamped on all of those first arrangements and albums.  When he left, a vital part of our signature left with him. I marvel at his talent each time I listen.                      

Nick Woods 1963 - Listen

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are blue. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away" 
-- J. Davis/C. Mitchell (one of Gayle's favorite songs.)

Gayle sang with me in The New Christy Minstrels and the sweetness of our sound 
will always be the Gold Standard for me.  Gayle recorded her CD 'All Is One'  a few months before her death in 2009. 

   Find Gayle's CD at  www.gaylecaldwell.org  Her heart still beats in every song.

                                               Gayle Caldwell 1963 - LISTEN

I remember the first time I ever heard you play. The song was "Whoa Back Buck", an old Leadbelly tune. The place was your apartment on Jane Street in Greenwich Village and the year was 1959. I was a student at Columbia University at the time, and was fascinated by the guitar. When I heard you play that night, I was awestruck. I had never heard the guitar make such sounds. No finger-picks, just
machine precision and pure human passion. From that moment to this day, everything I do on the guitar is measured against what I have heard you play throughout the years we knew each other, from the first Art and Paul album in 1959 until our friendship was cut short by your illness.

                                             Dick Rosmini - LISTEN

Walter Schorr 1939-2007
Turn on some music and click here
 

 
For those of you who go way back with me, that's Dink, the greatest dog that ever lived. I rescued her from a pound in Minnessota after a gig with Paul in 1960. She traveled with us on the road, slept at my feet on stage and kept me sane through the muddy years.  I still miss her.  That's me in the picture too...taken by Mitzi Trumbo in the back of an abandoned school bus in Topanga sometime in the late sixties or early seventies.

Listen to my song about Dink - 'Dink' - from my CD 'From The Village To The Canyon'

She was “The Angel” when we were in Italy. Children followed her down the streets and when she opened her mouth to sing, honey flowed. When people ask me who the greatest female singers I’ve ever heard were, I always tell them Linda Ronstadt, Eva Cassidy, and Karen Gunderson. In no particular order. I first heard Karen sing in 1961. She was barely out of her teens, singing with a group called The Sherwood Singers, at the Ice House in Pasadena. I’d never been that close to sweet vocal perfection before and there wasn’t an opportunity for a female voice that presented into which I didn’t drag her. When she joined us on our New Christy Minstrels European tour, she took Italy by storm. If there’s a country in the world that celebrates the human voice more than Italy does, I don’t know where it is. Karen left us in 2017 and I still listen to her impeccable pitch, intonation, soft breathy music when I need to adjust my sights and align my measurement of excellence.

Karen and Nick Woods in 1965 at the San Remo Music Competition, singing “Le Colline Sono In Fiore” (First Place Prize winner)

https://youtu.be/bQO5oXR-R5E

Karen in 1966 at the San Remo Music Competition – “Una Rosa da Vienna” https://youtu.be/9eBr2AKMuAI

Here’s a sample from one of our albums. That’s me at the beginning singing in (of all languages), Portuguese. You’ll recognize Karen’s voice when she comes in. You can’t miss it.

[The Girl From Ipanema]

More? Samples of her voice appear throughout our New Christy Minstrel recordings beginning in 1964 when she joined the group and replaced Jackie Miller.