Tom Woodward Releases His New Country/Folk-Rock Single 'Termination Day'

Tom Woodward has been writing and releasing his unique brand of baroque folk-rock, cosmic country psychedelia, and fuzzed-out lo-fi gems on numerous albums and EPs for the last two decades.

With an enviable cache of songs that document his thoughts and experiences, he's already lived a fascinating life. Tom honed his craft in the thriving arts & music scene of Canberra and Melbourne in the mid-2000s before taking his original songs to audiences around Australia, Japan, and the USA.

In 2023, Tom put down the guitar and embarked on a two month walk up the east coast of Australia, ending with a hospital stay and a hard-earned respect for the fragility of life. A year and a half later, he got deported as an illegal alien from the USA.

Tom's new single 'Termination Day', which premiered with Sunburnt Country Music and Stuart Coupe's Dirt Music on 2SER, is a raised middle finger to the forces of tech feudalism and economic totalitarianism as they attempt to imprison our souls.

"It is an ironically upbeat rock & roll banger," says Tom. "As Jean-Paul Satre said, 'you always have a choice, even if that choice is to get shot in the head.' It was written after listening to 'Tops' by The Rolling Stones when I was bored one evening. I thought, 'I could write something like that..,' picked up my guitar and out came the riff."

The lively rhythmic bounce and Tom's melodic, Dylan-esque delivery give the song an infectious and positively euphoric sonic quality. The line "let it slide" is echoed by Katie Walsh's backing vocal and Tom's liquid electric guitar line as the chooglin' groove heads into the sunset like a lost classic from The Band.

Tom's mid-2010s album Beautiful Shadows received critical acclaim in publications such as For Folk's Sake and The Huffington Post and earned him a Canberra Critics Circle award. He has performed at the National Folk Festival, The Multicultural Fringe Festival, and racked up for supports for such luminaries as Abbe May, The Drones, Mikelangelo & the Black Sea Gentlemen, Cash Savage & the Last Drinks, Machine Translations, Steve Poltz, and many more.

Tom's eclectic musicality and creative work ethic are proof he's in it for the long haul. Having been sentenced to a wandering life by a sardonic and hilarious God, Tom's been laughing, crying, and singing about it ever since.

'Termination Day' is out now via Bandcamp, streaming services, and Amrap for our community radio friends across Australia.

© Scoop Media