Darren Woodlief, like many professors, is an avid reader and writer. But he doesn't just read for his class — he reads for his music.
Pocket Buddha, a local music group led by Woodlief, a USC professor of statistics for psychology, will release their EP, "Planting Hands" April 28.
The album name "Planting Hands" was inspired by John Steinbeck’s short story "The Chrysanthemums," in which a woman describes the process of pruning plants.
“She says it's not something that you think about, you just get your hands in there and your fingers just know what to touch and pull off,” said Woodlief, songwriter of Pocket Buddha. “That’s how I feel when I play music ... all of the music I play, I try not to engage my brain. I want to engage something deeper.”
"Planting Hands" is a two-sided album where each side embraces a different musical style. The EP's sound can’t effectively be described by any specific genre.
“I think the most accurate genre is Americana, which is a huge umbrella,” Woodlief said. “It covers that whole album because it has some rock, some country elements.”
One side of the album consists of a full-studio production with harmonizing vocals, an entire band and instruments such as guitar, cello, heavy piano and a blues-style fiddle. On the other side, Pocket Buddha mixed a live session in a shed, which Woodlief described as a hangout spot where people just get together, drink beer and make good music.
Woodlief said the EP borrowed sounds from multiple genres and incorporated sounds and lyrics from several artists. Every song on the album was co-written except for one.
“There were 12 to 14 musicians on this one record,” Woodlief said. “I have a lot of musical friends around here. They are all in other bands and they are just so talented and to get to have them come play on our record is just amazing.”
Because all of the songs were written through collaborations, the inspiration for the album’s lyrics emerged from experiences, interpretations and, in some cases, even stories that have been passed down through generations.
Woodlief described his grandmother as a storyteller and shared a story about her great-grandfather who was killed at Gettysburg and how his grandfather's wife, who had been healthy her entire life, died within two weeks of finding out the news.
“[My grandmother] remembered her great-aunt telling her the story,” Woodlief said. “She told my grandmother that her mother had died of a broken heart. So when I heard that I thought that was a song waiting to happen. That’s how we came up with the song called 'Ten Days.'”
On top of creating this EP, Woodlief has an entire life outside of music and finds it difficult to make time for it.
“I teach statistics for psychology classes,” Woodlief said. “I am also working on getting my dissertation prospectus of clinical psychology in grad school, and I am a single dad, so I don’t get to practice much.”
But this hasn’t stopped Woodlief from growing as a musician.
“I have better perspective on it now," Woodlief said. “I used to be more worried about what people thought about [the music] and be more self conscious and be more nervous. I’m more comfortable in front of people with a guitar than without. It’s easier to get up and sing a song rather than teach a class without a prop.”
Although his motivation for making music has changed since he was an undergraduate at USC in the '90s, his love for music remains the same.
"My goal [for 'Planting Hands'] is to get as many people to listen to it as possible," Woodlief said. “I just want to put it in people's ears.”