By Hellen Fleming

Listen to the story!

Today, the mainstream airwaves are crammed full of packaged pop music. So when an artist comes along with a unique sound, our ears take notice and it's like a breath of fresh air. Some say Anchorage's Jared Woods has that kind of talent.

Woods' eclectic sound is one that is created, not copied.

He has been in numerous local bands including The Roman Candles, Divebar and his current band Woodrow, and it was experiences that impacted his own distinctive style.

"I think that the more styles that I play it

all shows up in the music somewhere," he said. "It has made my songwriting more unique learning all those styles."

Woods' songwriting is what draws in many of his fans. The dynamic imagery he creates in his songs sets him apart: Woods takes ordinary events and transforms them to tell a story anyone can relate to.

"I think songwriting is more about having your heart broken or having a wild time with your friends or going on a road trip. I think that there are a lot of different things that can fuel your songwriting," Woods said. "When I first started writing songs I kind of made them more vague and even now I write the songs and they have a lot of metaphors, so unless I describe what inspired me to write those songs it's kind of tough to figure it out. I think the honesty and sincerity has to be there or people won't buy it."

"Spilled Drinks and Starlight" is Woods' first full-length album in more than four years. With each song as original as the one before, the album transitions from acoustic rock to alternative to a touch of folk and bluegrass.

"Its very eclectic. I've got some stuff that's pretty rockin' and some stuff that is very mellow with violins. I picked all the ones that would stylistically fit together to try to make the album flow really well from beginning to end," he said. "The album has a lot of strong songs on it and anywhere on the album, you can listen to the first half of it or the second half of it and you can find some really good songs, good lines."

One of Woods' defining talents is his ability to play live. He channels the audience's energy through his playing and sends it back throughout his performance. He tends to be modest and lets his music speak for itself. Woods' says his live performances are important.

"You can put out an album that is low-fi and done in your basement, and I think that when you are playing live you want it to be as good as it can be. No one is going to have faith in your music if you can't pull it off live," Woods said. "There is a lot of doctoring you can do in the studio to make you sound decent. My live performance is very polished and professional. Some of the songs on the CD I perform different live with the band."

Woods has gained popularity in South Central Alaska and is at the top of his game. He is a musician who takes himself seriously, yet remains humble.

"I've seen bands around town where people play two shows and all of a sudden they are super cocky and acting like they are better than everybody else. And I think that is ridiculous and I think that people need to go outside to different states and be humbled by what's going on in other places," Woods said. "That's what happened to me when I left and went down to L.A. I thought I could go down there and really could make a name for myself. I went down there and got stomped down into the ground and I'm forever humbled by being in L.A. and playing down in the music scene."

"Spill Drinks and Starlight" was released March 19 and is available at Metro Books and Music and other music stores. For more information on Jared Woods and his music, visit www.jaredwoods.com.