Chris Batten & The Woods – ‘Need You Around’
Chris Batten & The Woods have been hailed as one of the best live acts in NJ for the past 20 years. Chris’s authentic songs, told over a backbeat of Americana and Soul made the band a mainstay of the New Jersey scene, playing regularly at legendary clubs like The Stone Pony, Maxwell’s, Starland Ballroom, Asbury Lanes and The Court Tavern in the 00’s/01’s — as well as iconic NYC venues like CBGBs, Pianos, Mercury Lounge, Arlene’s Grocery and Bowery Ballroom.
While the band never stopped moving — having lost, added and even welcomed back members — they are now a 5-man, 3-guitar attack. In 2022 they came back with their first single in over 15 years, “Do It All Over” — in 2023 they stepped things up with follow-up, “The Ceiling” and ended the year with a live EP recorded at New York’s Bowery Ballroom.
Prolific NJ Dad-Rock stewards, Chris Batten & The Woods are currently celebrating their 20th Anniversary as a band and are BACK with their 3rd single of 2024, ‘Need You Around’ — an explosively dynamic ballad somewhere between Springsteen, Peter Gabriel and the spacier side of country.
The song features lush (yet DIY) production that surrounds a gorgeous melody delivered by Battens’s emotionally charged vocals and powerful lyrics about the importance of human connection…as the (always) razor sharp Woods, bring a haunting ambience that will hit listeners in the heart while making the hairs on the back of their neck standup. Chris Batten & The Woods are on TunedLoud Hit Radio rotation with the track ‘Need You Around’.
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