Angela Wood

Angela Wood With equal parts sass, sauce and self-confidence, country singer-songwriter Angela Wood is poised to become the musical Carrie Bradshaw of the flyover states. While her underlying theme of female empowerment is heartfelt and serious, her songs are lighthearted, funny and irresistible, much like a laughter-filled girls1 night out. While "Sex and the City" depicts the life of women living in New York, Angela1s music accurately reflects the experiences of American women living everywhere else. "I want to empower women and encourage them to be who they are and embrace their differences", she says. "I want to challenge them to not accept the status quo in relationships and what people tell them about themselves." Her powerful and deep voice has repeatedly been compared to Trisha Yearwood1s, while her attitude, spunk and ability to capture the pop culture zeitgeist are reminiscent of Shania Twain. If the stunning brunette looks familiar, it1s because she1s been featured in some of America1s most prominent commercials, including Super Bowl ads for Bud Light and Alka-Seltzer. She1s also starred in ads for TGI Friday1s, Payless Shoes, Hardee1s, Carl1s Jr. and Gillette, and appeared alongside Ryan Seacrest in a Scope commercial. But for Angela, an acting career has essentially been an interesting day job that has paid well enough to allow her to spend most days focusing on music. She has written songs with Big & Rich, Vince Gill and Sherrie Austin and performed in a band with Shooter Jennings. After appearing in Blake Shelton1s "She Wouldn1t Be Gone", video, he told CMT, "I wouldn1t be surprised if I say one day that I was in a video with her!" One of her best friends is pop star Katy Perry, whom she met when Katy came to one of her shows in Los Angeles about six years ago. "The reason we get along so well is that we both have eccentric personalities," Angela says. "I1m just a little tamer than she is. I like to be unpredictable, but I also want the girls to relate to me." Angela and her twin brother, Ryan, who are the middle of four children, were born in Oklahoma City. The family moved to Houston when they were two, and after a few years moved to Dallas. I1ve been singing as long as I can remember because my dad was a music minister, she says. When I was five, my dad would take me to concerts and we would always get to go backstage because people who were in his youth group were working with people like Amy Grant. I was like, "This is what I want to do. She performed in choirs, including the special All-City choirs, and was awarded numerous church solos. "I would get in trouble because I pulled up the pastor and made him dance with me and we were at a Southern Baptist church, so that was really scandalous, even though I didn1t think it was scandalous!" She began writing songs at age 12 and playing guitar three years later. "My dad gave me my first and only guitar when I was 15," she says. "He taught me three chords and said, 'Go for it!' He had this reel-to-reel machine that was really old-school that he taught me how to use. I had a little microphone, so I would record either to tracks or try to play my songs. He also made me my own little P.A. system so I could stand in front of the mirror and watch myself perform." While attending Baylor University, she joined a gospel soul all-girls band that performed during the school1s chapel services and toured the area. After transferring to Nashville1s Belmont University, she began writing with Big Kenny and John Rich and performing in local songwriters1 nights. Shooter Jennings invited her to join his glam rock band Stargun. "I didn1t look like I fit in at all, but it was fun." When the band moved to California, she remained in Nashville to focus on writing and performing. But later, she decided to make the West Coast journey herself and eventually landed in the Virgin Astroworks1 band West Indian Girl. "I took a break from country to learn how to write in a different way, to expand my musical horizons," she says. "I wanted to incorporate country instruments with a different sound by having them played differently than they are usually played on country albums." Her unusual path has resulted in a batch of fresh, original songs such as "Sex in the Country" and "Don1t Need Me Now" that have a universal appeal. "I was thinking about Sex in the City, and realized that nobody has ever written 'Sex in the Country,' and things can be just as fun, if not more fun, in the country because you have to use your imagination as opposed to having lots of options laid out for you." "Don1t Touch My Man" was inspired by the scolding Faith Hill gave an audience member after she grabbed Hill1s husband, Tim McGraw. "It1s really sassy and talks about the girls that don1t have boundaries," she says. The compelling "Runaway Girl" portrays a gypsy who keep starting fires and running away, so she1ll eventually have to face a roaring inferno of consequences. While her lyrics are inspiring, insightful and thought-provoking, Angela Wood ultimately just wants her girls and everyone else in the audience --to have fun. "I want them to laugh and relate to the music," she says. "I want them to leave feeling like they had the best time ever. I used to call it a "concert hangover'", she says. "When I would go to good concerts when I was younger, I would be all bummed the next day because I had a concert hangover. I want people to have concert hangovers when they come see me play."