Joe was born kicking and screaming in 1959 to Walter and Phyllis Woodson -both parents were educators and Walter was a minister to several congregations throughout the Piedmont. Music of all kinds were played around the house, but acoustic music, specifically gospel and folk, have stayed in Joe’s blood.

Through the 1980s and early 1990s, Joe played in various rock bands and toured with The Black Jacks and the Nationals. Some of Joe’s songs began to find air play on college stations and area radio stations. With the country craze, Joe tried his hand at becoming a “country” singer: He played a few showcase gigs in Nashville, TN, but found his heart fell back to the acoustic traditional music roots of his youth.

In 1995, Joe sold his electric guitar and went to visit his good buddy, David Diener, in Atlanta. They went around to eight guitar shops and Joe found his beloved Alvarez Yairi.
Joe began to work primarily on acoustic music and started Millwright Recordings as an outlet for his new sound.

In 1997, Joe called an ad in the local paper to record. The company he contacted was Rose Hill Productions run by Paul Rosenberg of Chapel Hill, NC. This began a long partnership through three projects (Looking Away, Come Back For Real, and the Right Place) over ten years. Paul and Joe have played some fine music together.

Joe’s tunes have been played by stations throughout the United States, France, New Zealand, Australia, and Sweden to name a few. Joe continues to perform at festivals – The Festival of the Autumn moon, Centerfest, Mumfest, Carrboro Music Festival, and the North Carolina Museum of History. Jordan Koronet, a frequent jammer, and Joe placed third in the 2006 North Carolina State Fair vocal duo competition.