A MARTÍNEZ, BYLINE: The Grammy-winning folk duo of Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings have made a career singing about hard times.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HASHTAG")
GILLIAN WELCH AND DAVE RAWLINGS: (Singing) So here's another song that's over now. You're another sun that done gone down.
MARTÍNEZ: Now Welch and Rawlings are living one of their songs.
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RACHEL MARTIN: Tornadoes ripped through Nashville, Tenn., and surrounding areas overnight. Authorities are still...
MARTÍNEZ: Four years ago, a tornado destroyed their recording studio in Nashville, upending their career and their lives. But they've turned disaster into inspiration with a new album named after their shattered and now restored recording studio. It's titled "Woodland."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HASHTAG")
WELCH AND RAWLINGS: (Singing) Time makes the wheels spin and the years roll out and the doubt rolls in. In the truck stops.
MARTÍNEZ: So Gillian, Dave, let's start with the tornado. When did it hit? Where were you both? I mean, describe that night. Gillian, let's start with you.
GILLIAN WELCH: It hit about 1 in the morning. I was in an interior bathroom with our two main guitars. And when it was seemingly safe to come out, we couldn't really get to the studio. There were already gas mains broken, and there were fires starting, and there were power lines down. And, of course, it was pitch black. So (laughter) it was a little bit like something out of "Apocalypse Now."
DAVE RAWLINGS: I have a pretty vivid memory of running through the debris on the road and weaving through stuff. I opened the door to one room that led to the main tape vault, and somehow, the suction of me opening the door, you know, pulled - all of this drops. It just collapsed in front of me.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow.
RAWLINGS: Just all blew up in my face, and I started coughing. And I closed the door, and I'm like, OK, well (laughter)...
WELCH: We're not going in there. Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: How long did it take to rebuild the studio?
WELCH: Oh.
RAWLINGS: I'll let you know.
(LAUGHTER)
RAWLINGS: I mean, we're five years in, and there's still - I mean, it still looks like a tornado hit here in a lot of places. But that's because attention needed to be turned back to repairing the parts of the building and the things that are essential for making music.
WELCH: And then, to not go crazy, we had to actually make some art, or we'd just forget what type of people we were.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HASHTAG")
WELCH AND RAWLINGS: (Singing) When will we become ourselves? When will we become ourselves?
MARTÍNEZ: Whenever I speak to artists, they always tell me that, sometimes, inspiration hits them in strange ways. I mean, when you look back on this time, do you remember inspiration happening to either of you?
WELCH: I remember the moment that inspired the first track on the album, which is called "Empty Trainload Of Sky." And something about that image kind of set a tone for the whole album. I remember when I spoke that title to Dave, he said something to the effect of, OK, well, that's the new record. And it was kind of a touchstone for what was to become "Woodland."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EMPTY TRAINLOAD OF SKY")
WELCH AND RAWLINGS: (Singing) Just a boxcar of blue showing daylight clear through. Just an empty trainload of sky.
RAWLINGS: How we got through all of it became an overlay, and it became something that influenced all of the creative work. There's a theme of sort of rebuilding and rebirth on a lot of the songs - a resurrection and how one tries to keep things alive as long as they can and keep that spirit alive. And I think that's what art is, to - or songwriting is. You know, you want to lock things that you felt.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WHAT WE HAD")
WELCH AND RAWLINGS: (Singing) Now I only want what we had, what we had, what we had, we had, we had.
MARTÍNEZ: I always just think that many country and folk music songs are about overcoming tough times.
WELCH: It's true.
MARTÍNEZ: Did you feel like you were living one of your songs?
WELCH: (Laughter) A little bit. I mean, being hit by a tornado - it is one of life's peak experiences. I mean, I wouldn't trade it. There's kind of a purity. There's a focus to just finding your voice in that kind of situation. I hope, and I think, perhaps, it's made this recent work better.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE BELLS AND THE BIRDS")
WELCH AND RAWLINGS: (Singing) They tell me that life is sweet enough to cheer us on our way. Just enough for today.
MARTÍNEZ: There's an old joke about what happens when you play a country song backwards. I don't know if you two have heard it. But basically, you get your dog back, your truck back, your lover back. Considering...
WELCH: (Laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: ...Where this album came from and the circumstances surrounding it. I mean, have you two flipped the direction of your life song, so to speak?
RAWLINGS: It's an interesting point.
WELCH: (Laughter).
RAWLINGS: You know, I think there's a validation to feeling like we went through this storm and we went through this time period. I don't know, you know, what the value of it all is, but at least I know that people are feeling it in the way that we thought that they would, and, you know, I can't really ask for anything more than that.
WELCH: You joke about country music. It does make me think about country music and folk music. And I'm just so profoundly grateful that all that was going on could find a home and could find expression in this music that we make. I really don't know what I would do without that voice and that anchor to the world. The most joyful things, the most horrendous things - they all find voice in folk music.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings. Their new album is called "Woodland." Gillian, Dave, thank you very much for telling us about this album.
RAWLINGS: Thanks for having us.
WELCH: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HERE STANDS A WOMAN")
WELCH AND RAWLINGS: (Singing) You told me that you loved me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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