Woody Simmons began her musical career writing and singing radio commercials. A multi-instrumentalist (guitar, piano, mandolin), she is probably best known for her fluid and melodic modal banjo style, which mixes elements of both the traditional and the experimental in an approach that is on the jazz side of new age. She played banjo on Cris Williamson's Changer and the Changed album, which was released in 1975, and became a staff engineer at John Altmann Recording in 1978. Simmons continues to produce music for radio and television, and continues to work with a wide array of independent musicians. Her albums include Oregon Mountains (1977), Woody Simmons (1980), and Banjorama (2001), all of which have been issued by Deep River Records. ~ Steve Leggett