“I really didn’t see that coming,” said musician Derek Woods about winning an award at Wednesday’s Hollywood Music in Media Awards.
The Westmoreland-based Derek Woods Band took honors for Americana/Folk/Singer Songwriter Song of the Year for “Unforgiving Tree” during a livestreamed program that Woods and his band mates watched from their homes.
“I was honored and shocked, though I had a good feeling about it,” Woods said. “I was just trying to stay positive.”
The song was the first single off the roots rock band’s 2019 album, “The Question,” and puts a different spin on the Shel Silverstein book, “The Giving Tree.”
Founded in 2009, the HMMA is “the first award organization to honor original music (Song and Score) in all visual media from around the globe including film, TV, video games, trailers, commercial advertisements, documentaries and special programs,” according to its website. “The HMMA nominations have historically been representative of the nominees of key awards shows that are announced months later.”
Nominations were announced in October. Band members originally intended to attend the awards ceremony in California, but it became a virtual event due to the pandemic.
The award for “Unforgiving Tree” was announced by Scott Page, known for playing saxophone and rhythm guitar with Pink Floyd, Supertramp and Toto.
On hearing his band’s name, Woods got on a Zoom call with band members Joshua Carns, Chris Schaney, Joe Scheller and Chris Bellin.
“Everyone was just as much in shock as I was,” he said.
He also woke up his oldest daughter to give her the news. This morning, his wife and fellow musician, Sara Woods, had all three of their children give him a celebratory wake-up.
The band will play its first show of the year in the March 4 installment of “The VIP Experience (Virtually in The Palace),” a free Thursday night livestream concert series. The series, presented by Westmoreland Cultural Trust, features regional bands playing original music.
On June 13, they’ll play the Carnegie Library Music Hall of Homestead with The Allman Betts Band, led by sons of founding members of The Allman Brothers Band. That show was rescheduled from last year.
There’s also a new album on the horizon, due out sometime this year, Woods said.
