In the two months since its formal release, Speck is currently playing on over 85 college and AAA radio stations, and debuted at #186 in CMJ's top 200 charts.
Below are a few reviews of the album!
"Woodward’s songs are like mountain music with an MFA. References to Tolstoy and Harper Lee slip into her dark-hued, old-timey tunes; however, she’s doesn’t sound liked an affected musical anthropologist appropriating native backwoods sounds. Although based out of New York City, Woodward grew up in Virginia and South Carolina so there is an easy naturalness to her rural porch music... Alexa Woodward impresses both in concert and on disc, making her someone for Americana connoisseurs to keep an eye on." -- Michael Berick, NO DEPRESSION
"There’s something totally disarming about the way Woodward sings, with a roundness to her voice that plainly bears the mark of a Southern upbringing. But unlike delicate chanteuse Gillian Welch’s sepia-toned obsession with a bygone era, you don’t get the sense that Woodward needs a vintage dress to create authenticity. She surrounds her voice with plucky banjo, singing saw and wistful mandolin, which give her songs a gothic quality, as on “Spoon,” a song with lyrics as cryptic as those of Joanna Newsom. But to Woodward’s credit, her music is nowhere near as indulgent. For all the spare arrangements and spacious melodies, it’s her voice that takes the stage." --EUGENE WEEKLY
"Comparisons abound. She’s been likened to singers such as Neko Case, Joanna Newsom, and Gillian Welch, placing Alexa Woodward in very good company. However, despite the temptation to draft countless other musical similes to describe Alexa Woodward’s playing, suffice it to say this one time lawyer is penning beautiful songs sublimely set to comfortable banjo playing and graceful vocals." --STEREO SUBVERSION
"With banjo in hand and melodious pipes, Alexa transcends the framework of her songs and takes the listener into a world where only an experience storyteller can travel... a sophisticated songwriter who doesn’t sell her audience short. She gives listeners the opportunity to think while listening; to identify with her pain, loss, joy, suffering, and strength. You feel intimately aware of Alexa when the album is complete. A folk singer cannot ask for any more – an audience that is now one kindred spirit with the artist." --CHICKS WITH GUNS
"Each of Alexa’s songs is structured and unfolds as if spirited by an old soul... Hers are the kind of cliché-less, sensible and immediately relatable words that sound as good advice or a great story spoken by a friend." -Dan D'Ippolito, JEZEBEL MUSIC
"Woodward is a banjo-playing folk maven!" - RYAN'S SMASHING LIFE
"While some may compare Alexa’s vocals to the likes of Neko Case, Joanna Newsom, and Gillian Welch, upon my first listen I heard something more like Judy Garland; that is if Judy sang while playing the banjo. I’ll admit there is something about the banjo; I’m a sucker for it. Pair a great vocalist with it and I’m enraptured. Capturing another time and place, Alexa creates an almost haunting environment. Beautifully well-written, Alexa’s new album, Speck, is well worth the attention it has been receiving." --SEATTLE SHOW GAL
"Alexa Woodward is becoming more of a common name on the folk scene with the release of her sophomore record Speck. She sings flawlessly, as she strums her banjo to songs about loss and hope." --THE FIRE NOTE
"Speck... conjures images of rural families crowding round a crackly old radio to tap their feet and hum along." --MAD MACKEREL
