Before moving to Boulder, Colorado when she was five, Wendy Woo was born on January 26th in Manhattan, New York. After hearing about Naropa University, Wendy’s parents moved the family to Colorado and founded the degree program for traditional Eastern arts. The program included studies in tai chi, yoga, meditation, ikebana or Japanese flower arrangement and aikido, which is a martial art like judo. Wendy’s parents have been a huge support system in her musical career with her mother Jane providing the artwork for the covers of Angels in the Crowd, Wide Awake and Dreaming and Ecolalia. She also attended every single one of Wendy’s shows up until her death from breast cancer in 2001. Wendy’s father Bataan provided poetry and voice on Ecolalia and he frequents many of her shows.
Growing up, Wendy, her parents and her sister Tambi, would sing around the house and Wendy would participate in musicals. When Wendy was five she was in the play “The King and I” as the Siamese twin. In school, Wendy played piano, cello and sang in her high school choir. A family friend gave Wendy her now infamous acoustic guitar when she was ten, but she didn’t take it out of its case until she was 18. It wasn’t until Wendy finished high school that she figured learning guitar would give her the chance to keep singing. To start learning guitar, Wendy repeatedly listened to songs until she had perfected the guitar and vocal parts. The folk-rock music of Suzanne Vega and Paul Simon influenced Wendy to stick with the acoustic guitar, rather than switching primarily to electric, and to take from her roots in Boulder and add her own style to it.
Wendy attended college, going to the University of New Mexico for a year and the University of Colorado for nearly two, where she studied classical guitar and music theory. In 1993 at the age of 21, Wendy started bartending at the new Fox Theatre in Boulder. At first Wendy decided to keep her musical talent a secret, not wanting to seem pretentious around other musicians. It wasn’t until a year later, during a talent show, that Wendy’s talent was briefly showcased when she jumped onstage, picked up a guitar and sang the song “Scat Cat.” In December of 2005 Wendy was given her own night at the Fox, where she played “Down and Dirty” and “Gravity.” From then on, Wendy would occasionally put a band together and play her own nights of music.
While working at the Fox, Wendy added many accolades to her resume. When Sheryl Crow came to town, her opening act dropped out and Wendy took their place. She met Ambrosia Healey, the daughter of the Grateful Dead’s sound engineer Dan Healey, and Sally Taylor, daughter of Carly Simon and James Taylor, both at the Fox. Ambrosia taught Wendy how to do her own press and Wendy produced a CD for Sally Taylor. In 1999, Wendy won a battle of the bands competition which allowed her to play in the Lilith Fair at Fiddler’s Green, with such acts as the Indigo Girls and Sarah McLachlan. Wendy won awards for Best Local Artist (Colorado Daily) and Independent Artist of the Year (Hapi Skratch Entertainment) among others. Her songs were used commercially as well, in the Food Network’s “FoodNation with Bobby Flay” and in the 1999 Discovery Channel documentary “Mountain of Dreams.” Also during this time, Wendy produced Angels in the Crowd (1997) and put out another album Wide Awake and Dreaming (1999). In 2000 Wendy left the Fox, after nearly seven years, to pursue music full-time.
Since her time at the Fox, Wendy has produced three more of her own recordings: Ecolalia (2001), Gonna Wear Red (2002) and Angels Laughing (2005). Prior to her recording of Walking the Skyline (2004), Wendy sought out a band that would help her write and develop songs. With the release of Luxury (2007), Wendy had formed a trio with Chris Maestas on drums and Mitch DeZwarte on bass, both of whom wrote songs on the album.
Prior to adding Mitch DeZwarte to the band in 2005, Wendy met Chris Maestas at Rupp’s Drums in 2002, where he was working. She and Chris have since gone on to have a little drummer boy of their own, Little Chris.
Since the release of Luxury, Wendy has formed the Wendy Woo Band with Chris Maestas, Robin Hoch and Daren Hahn. Most recently, Wendy released a duo acoustic album, Saving Grace (2009), with fellow band member Robin Hoch. The band is set to continue playing shows and is looking to release a full band album within a year or two, but new material is always being worked into their live shows.
Written by Linzy Novotny
Read more...