Consisting of Woody Frank (guitar and voice), Andrew Woods (bass and voice) and Adrian Woods (drums and voice), Map of the Woulds has a whole lot of would. It's also a groovy new oasis along the journey of three Seattle songwriter-musicians who have been playing around town in various configurations since forever. Andrew and Adrian closed out the ‘90s in the experimental jazz-buttrock-fission trio HeeND, which played NXNW several times and SXSW once and then reformed as the ambient groove duo Neon Brown, which in turn played countless regional shows and several festivals (NXNW, Summer Meltdown, Arlington Garlic Festival, etc.). But it was during their 8-year improvised residence at local experimental venue Mr. Spots Chai House that Andrew and Adrian met a very young Woody Frank (and his extraordinary compatriots in Variety Pack). Woody’s talent and willingness to "go there" was immediately recognized and appreciated by the Woods Bros, and he quickly became a regular co-host at Neon Brown’s slot during a brief Woods-brothers hiatus as Adrian moved to Portland.
While the physical Mr. Spot’s location closed in 2010, the energy and bonds formed there only grew stronger, as Woody co-founded the powerful chai-house themed Morning Glory Revival. Andrew and Woody also carried on with other Chai House alumni in the improvised pop band Woodland Experimental Groove Orchestra, creating a new breed of standards consisting of improvised music and famous pop lyrics. At the same time as WEGO and MGR, Woody was also busy playing in Variety Pack, Whitney Monge’s band, Kings of Cavalier and many other projects, while Andrew released an acoustic solo album and his sprawling 2013 electric experimental/fusion EP, “Unscheduled Return”.
Speaking of unscheduled returns, Adrian reunited with Seattle in 2016 and the three joined local guitarist extraordinaire Five Philpin to create the short-lived Toast Fantasy, which promptly played the Fremont Solstice Fair, Suckerpunch’s 20-year anniversary party, recorded an EP, recorded another that it never released and then disbanded.
From the ashes of Toast Fantasy, Woody, Andrew and Adrian formed Map of the Woulds, embracing the turn-on-a-dime flexibility of the trio format, with a newfound focus on song-writing and making challenging ideas pop-palatable. They played their last show before Covid at the Fremont Solstice Fair and then mostly played acoustic in local parks during the enforced hiatus. Since then, they've released a self-titled EP — a carefully curated tour of tight but tangy compositions — and are currently headlining smaller Seattle area venues.
While the physical Mr. Spot’s location closed in 2010, the energy and bonds formed there only grew stronger, as Woody co-founded the powerful chai-house themed Morning Glory Revival. Andrew and Woody also carried on with other Chai House alumni in the improvised pop band Woodland Experimental Groove Orchestra, creating a new breed of standards consisting of improvised music and famous pop lyrics. At the same time as WEGO and MGR, Woody was also busy playing in Variety Pack, Whitney Monge’s band, Kings of Cavalier and many other projects, while Andrew released an acoustic solo album and his sprawling 2013 electric experimental/fusion EP, “Unscheduled Return”.
Speaking of unscheduled returns, Adrian reunited with Seattle in 2016 and the three joined local guitarist extraordinaire Five Philpin to create the short-lived Toast Fantasy, which promptly played the Fremont Solstice Fair, Suckerpunch’s 20-year anniversary party, recorded an EP, recorded another that it never released and then disbanded.
From the ashes of Toast Fantasy, Woody, Andrew and Adrian formed Map of the Woulds, embracing the turn-on-a-dime flexibility of the trio format, with a newfound focus on song-writing and making challenging ideas pop-palatable. They played their last show before Covid at the Fremont Solstice Fair and then mostly played acoustic in local parks during the enforced hiatus. Since then, they've released a self-titled EP — a carefully curated tour of tight but tangy compositions — and are currently headlining smaller Seattle area venues.