For years, Donovan Woods and Abe Stoklasa were close cogs in the Nashville machine. They wrote songs for the likes of Tim McGraw and Lady A’s Charles Kelley and collaborated on 2015’s “Portland, Maine,” Woods’ biggest hit so far. Stoklasa’s sudden death in 2023 leveled the Ontario native, whose songwriting credits include other big names like Kenny Chesney, Ben Platt, Ashley Cooke, Barenaked Ladies and Matt Nathanson. A harrowingly personal arrow to the heart, Squander Your Gifts (Meant Well) is as much an exorcism of grief as it is a parting gift to his talented, tortured friend. Its five tracks are beautifully composed and delivered—and so emotionally raw that it’s hard to imagine prolonging the wake for more than an EP.
Woods offers the stories behind each track.
—Hobart Rowland
1) “I Talk About You”
“This song is very explicitly about my friend Abe Stoklasa, as is the whole EP in a way. Abe died unexpectedly—and way too young. I wrote many songs with Abe and was so admiring of his talent. He wrote melodies unlike anyone else’s, which is hard to do after 100 years of pop music. He somehow started and finished lines of lyric and melody in ways that consistently surprised and left-footed me. Abe got a raw deal in childhood and had a hard life because of it. Especially in the wake of his death, people would lament that he wasn’t able to fully express his gifts because he struggled so mightily. He didn’t feel any compunction about it. His gifts were entirely his own. He used them when he wanted, with whom he wanted. I loved that about him and was frustrated by it in equal measure. I didn’t do enough to help him, and I miss him every day. I love to think and talk about his uniqueness, and that’s what the song’s about.”
2) “Do It Right”
“I’m examining myself here and talking about my own relationship to love and how to show it. Much of it is too personal to articulate—I’ve struggled with it my whole life. You have to love someone the way they want to be loved. I’ve done a bad job of loving people who I really do love, repeatedly. Anaïs Mitchell came to sing on ‘Losing Everything,’ and when she was done she said, ‘I’m having fun. Do you have anything else I can sing?’ We pulled up this song, and she sang over it a few times. I can’t imagine it without her. Aaron Collis plays mandolin lines that hit the mark so sweetly. The last 50 seconds are the most satisfying outro of my career. It makes me feel exactly the way I want music to make me feel.”
3) “These Things Happen”
“A rare type of song for me, because everything in here actually happened. It’s about Abe again, of course—and also I’m thinking about Nashville, the entertainment business and what it does to people. We watch celebrity and rejection ruin people’s lives. It’s kind of like how a fish doesn’t know it’s in water. Someone is always doing better than you, having more success. When Tim McGraw recorded a song Abe and I wrote, a songwriter sent me a message that said, ‘You’ve just achieved my wildest dream.’ I told Abe this, hoping to highlight that while we’re on the bottom rung of the ladder, it’s a pretty exclusive ladder. He told me that was nonsense. Now I think I maybe agree with him.”
4) “Who Could Love You?”
“I’d say that most relationships—romantic or otherwise—under intense scrutiny seem unhealthy. We rely too heavily on each other, expecting someone to be our everything. It’s a cruel mix of pity, admiration and desperation that keeps us together. Also, there’s a banjo in it.”
5) “Losing Everything”
“Someone at a party said of their husband, ‘He’s always losing everything,’ and it occurred to me that we all are. One of my favorite songwriters in the world, Steve Robson, and I made a melodic list one afternoon in London. Anaïs sings on here, and I’m so honored to have her. I’m edified by her songwriting, artistry and love for music. We spent an inspiring day in Montreal with producer Connor Seidel. Leif Vollebekk made a cameo for dinner. I took the train home to Toronto the next day and felt so lucky that I get to be alive, have friends and make up songs. May we all be so lucky.”
See Donovan Woods live.
