🎶 A Song For The Lifers 🎶
Meet Howard Woodring, Author of “This Is Not My Home.” A song that spearheaded commutation for women in Pennsylvania.
Interview with BL Shirelle
BL Shirelle got a chance to speak with Howard Woodring, whom she hasn’t seen since she was incarcerated at SCI Muncy where he was a psychologist. Here’s a peek into their conversation where they discussed the transformative power of music in the lives of incarcerated individuals and the broader social justice movement.
Simply Naomi & The DJC Band’s live 2023 version of “This Is Not My Home” is out today on all platforms.
HW: Hello, BL.
BL: Hi, Mr Woodring, how are you doing?
HW: I'm doing okay. It's Howard, by the way. And how are you?
BL: I'm alright. Can't complain. I’ve actually been working on Miss Naomi's album all night with my producer. I talked to her about you two possibly linking up, getting back together. She said she would love it.
HW: I was mostly just trying to tease her a little bit. But anyway, whatever might happen from that, it's fine. I’m really curious - how did you end up hooked up with Fury and this whole thing?
BL: So when we did the TEDx… Fury had happened to see our performance. So he reached out to Dimetrius Patterson, who was the rapper in group, and was like, “Hey, I'm working on this album about mass incarceration, and I would love if you could consider writing a few songs for it,” and because I was the writer of the lyrics and the music for our piece, Dimetrius gave me the letter. So I responded to the letter, and Fury sent me a whole map out of the album that he was working on. I started writing songs for him, and I got my first two professional placements while I was still at SCI Muncy.
HW: That is cool. When did you get out of Muncy?
BL: I got out of Muncy in December of 2015. That bid was actually my second time upstate. I was a parole violator in my 10th year, but I did my first seven years in Cambridge so I wasn't fully immersed into Muncy culture, but the TEDx thing was probably the highlight of that whole experience and probably the whole reason I went back to prison in the spiritual realm.
HW: I guess. Well, that's a good, positive way to look at it.
(The conversation veers off to Howard asking me about a mutual friend I was incarcerated with whose identity I will keep anonymous.)
BL: Oh! She’s doing very well! I’m so proud of her. It's very interesting seeing her growth & trajectory because when I first met Lu… I mean… she seemed cool, if you could see past the swastika tattoos. (Laughs)
HW: Oh yes! I remember she had that Nazi shit all over! I remember thinking,”Oh my God, you're not going to do well here, honey.” (Laughs)
BL: Jeopardy brought us together. When Alex Trebek died I had a moment of sincere grief because that show was the thing that bonded us. Every night we would watch it together and we unlearned so many things about one another through that show. She's actually a sweetheart and one of my favorite people and she has grown up so much.
HW: Well, you know, that's the whole thing about all of that. A Lot of people who grow up with really strict racist things don't really have enough exposure to people of different backgrounds, and they really get all caught up in this thing about skin color. One of the things I always say to people is, “Would you ever separate people because of their eye color?” Skin's just another thing. What the hell's the difference? You just need some exposure.
BL: You really do and that's the cure for all of us. That's a lot of the reason why I chose music as my medium; because that is mass exposure to those with like ideas or thoughts... Incarcerated people look, sound, and act completely differently. Their individual stories align with their community or demographic, but no one’s is identical. You know we had folks who used to be doctors and lawyers in there; a bunch of college kids who fell to addiction and DUIs… if we can expose that, society may see themselves more in us. The state has done a good job of keeping us hidden. So that way, your idea of incarcerated people is left up to your wildest imagination.
HW: Well, the whole split of it is, that we're the good people and you're the bad people, right? And you know, a large percentage of the folks incarcerated are African American because of the racist history of this country but that's still how they see it. People are on their pedestal, on their noble soapbox and it never crosses their minds that any of us are capable of going to prison. We’re all capable of anything and more importantly the state is capable of anything. People never give it a first thought.
BL: Did you ever happen to read the blog that I wrote about The Lady Lifers’ performance?
HW: I don't know. I read a number of them, but I haven't looked at any of that stuff for so long. Uh, where would that have been?
BL: It's on my website.
HW: I never did.
BL: I didn't know how to contact you at the time. So, I mean… I completely made up your point of view, but I want to read parts of it to you and you can let me know if I was close in my thinking. I remember at the beginning of the TEDx thing, I remembered them having a different song. “We’re Lady Lifers….” Do you remember that first song?
HW: Do I?!? It was awful. IT WAS AWFUL!! I'll tell you, when I had The Lady Lifers in my group together, I said, “Let's do this.” Different people said, “I'll come up with a song.” and Diane Metzger came up with that song. I heard it, and I thought, “Oh, my God, that's terrible.” I didn't know what to do, because I couldn't say anything, but a couple of the ladies in the group said, “Howard, no.” They said, “you know music, maybe you can do something.” I said, “How the hell can I write something?” And they said, “Oh, please, just try.” And so that's how it happened. Diane was pissed off. It hurt, and I understood, but…
BL: I remember being in rehearsal and telling them I thought the song was okay, but it was really cheesy and it felt like they were the mascots of serving LIFE in prison, but this is what I said in the blog, “It sounded cute. It was dignified and up tempo. The melody was friendly, but the reason I can't remember the words is because the song wasn't moving. Now that I'm older, I understand why The Lady Lifers wanted to be a part. Most of them didn't even know what YouTube or TEDx was. They wanted to participate, to do their part of offering what they were allowed. They didn't want to ruffle feathers in fear they wouldn't make the final selection. They didn't feel comfortable or empowered to use the platform as a desperate attempt at redemption, no matter how much they felt it inside.” To that you say what?
HW: Yeah, I think that could be part of it, you know, because they all have something on the line; always hoping for commutation and don't want to rock the boat at all. Plus many of them were older. They were older women. I purposely put them together like that. If you listen to the background vocals, there's probably only one person there that can really carry a tune, but folks like Naomi and Rhodie who both could sing were doing their own thing. So I picked people who had the longest time there, that had the most years in, to try to increase the impact of it. I wanted people with over 20 years in. Because 20 years is LIFE in most other states. It's 20 to life, and they get out on parole, but when you got ladies who've been sitting in there 35, 40 years, they certainly didn't want to ruffle feathers.
BL: So then in the next paragraph of the blog I said: “Enter Howard Woodring, a genuinely cool gentleman that worked as a psychiatrist at Muncy. Woodring had come to a rehearsal to check out The Lady Lifers’ performance and left wondering where their true feelings were. All the things they discussed in the lifers group he facilitated. The fears of losing their whole family to distance and time. Some of them had been incarcerated for 40 years. Surely they could share their plight with the world and spark a conversation about justice, revenge, cruelty, rehabilitation and redemption. What's the difference between these things? Which ones are we practicing as a society? Howard went home and wrote down his viewpoint through song. The result, “This Is Not My Home,” written by Howard Woodring with music by Naomi Blount Wilson and sung by The Lady Lifers, was a true group effort born of decades of conversations between the ladies of the lifers group; their innermost fears shared with each other that only one another can understand. Woodring had a front seat to these emissions and revealed them to the world.”
HW: Nice. Nice.
BL: How wrong was I? (Laughs)
HW: No, not at all. You were spot on. I felt really honored that they trusted me with that, and they liked what I came up with. That was really a culmination of my working at Muncy and all the women that I worked with there. I mean, it was truly my calling and to have been embraced by the lifers - that was really an honor for me, and I felt really good that they trusted me. Not only in general, but also being able to express their feelings through music. I also liked the fact that Naomi saw it needed a whole different musical approach. I'm an old folk rock singer, and the whole style in which I wrote it wouldn't have been right for them. So Naomi changed that and I'm so happy that she felt free to do that, to make it much more appropriate for what they did.
BL: I'm really interested in your original arrangement when you wrote it?
(Howard picks up his guitar and begins to play.)
HW: All the verses and the choruses had only two chords and each verse is the same and part of what that was supposed to do (it's written in a minor key), is represent the notion of sameness, of year by year, sameness. Now the bridge that comes after the third verse, has a little bit of a change. Now, Naomi put a key change in there; which was perfect right at the end. She threw a key change in.
BL: That's really good. Now I would like to hear a woman folk singer's rendition of it. Were you there at the live performance? Do you remember how when they got up and they started saying their names and how much time they did and you could hear the audible gasp in the crowd? It was like they just realized what LIFE meant. It was more like a political type of crowd, it wasn't family & friends so I do feel like that song had a huge impact on what happened. The commutation numbers jumped up 400% after that. I do feel like that was the first catalyst.
HW: Yeah, well, I appreciate you saying that. I have to say too that the other thing that changed is that Tom Wolfe got into a second term and didn't have to worry about the politics of it anymore; although there were still some deserving people who should have got out and didn't, but after a couple more tries they did. I'm concerned right now, because I think Shapiro (the PA Governor) is a decent guy, but he's got bigger aspirations. Christ, they're even talking about him running if Biden drops out or as a VP candidate and with Fetterman gone from the pardons board, things haven't been looking good. They haven’t commuted anyone yet.
BL: Things have been rough since Fetterman left. Recently someone got the votes, and then they rescinded the votes because the family said something in protest.
HW: Someone told me about that. This family came out of nowhere. Like a niece or a nephew that had never been involved before. That whole process drives me crazy. You know, even when people are on trial; our justice system is supposed to be objective and not emotional and not about revenge. So I understand taking victim’s statements prior to testimony given, but then to have the family come in and testify even during sentencing, to me, is wrong. A lot of that comes down to who can cry the most; and everybody's hurt by what happens, but all of that is supposed to be judged objectively. In terms of commutation hearings, I certainly think the families of victims should have absolutely zero say in whether somebody gets out. The system should decide those sorts of things. So these family members coming out of the woodwork just drive me crazy.
BL: I have a friend who has a notorious crime and the family said they would never forgive her and they would come to every hearing year after year to ensure she NEVER, EVER gets out. I can say they have stuck to their word. They constantly raise awareness to their family members' case and legacy and they make it very hard for her; but I think for that family, they have stayed consistent in their lack of forgiveness. Decades straight, no breaks. Now is that right or wrong? I'm not going to speak to that, because if somebody killed my son, who knows how I would feel; but I will say this: I think that's different than somebody popping in 25 years later who hasn't been doing or saying anything - like at least they have been consistent. People coming out of the blue just to be bitter and mean-spirited is different from being a sincere advocate of your loved one's legacy.
BL: Though I didn't work closely with you inside - I stayed very far away from psych (laughs) - I genuinely want to thank you for the impact you've had on my community. I've heard nothing but GREAT things from my peers about you, so thank you for treating us like humans and having respect for us. I always thought you were a sincere, cool gentleman. Thank you so much for that.
HW: Thank you for that. My notion was that the women in there should have access to the same type of services that people out in the real world have, not just medication and an “are you okay today?” So it went from there and the environment was such that I was able, over the 25-30 years I was there, to sort of put all of that together with all the different groups I was running. I just kept starting different things, different kinds of groups. In addition to the lifers, one of the most exciting ones for me was support groups for the DCC women. [DCC is the intake process new admits go through. It's a 3-6 month educational, vocational and psycho-evaluation you must participate in before going to general population.] Coming into the DCC is a big shock and when you get there - there's no services. We started providing groups for the ladies - when I say we I mean Sheena King, Heather Lavelle (both lifers) & I. We got up to doing 10 of those groups a week! Plus all different other kinds of groups and then I was told one day that all of that was done, and they just wanted me to go back to coming to your cell door and asking, “Are you okay today?” Check ins with no ongoing therapy. I just couldn't do that. I couldn't do it. What really bothers me about that is the administration at Muncy has been majority women for a long time. You would think they would see the progress we were making and invest into our programming even more, but to do the complete opposite - while I’m not surprised… I can’t be complicit.
BL: Stand for something or fall for anything. So what have you been doing since then?
HW: Exactly, so I came out and got a job with a local agency doing in-home counseling for at-risk adolescents, doing family therapy, because I wanted to keep doing that sort of thing. So I did that for awhile, and then covid hit, and that changed how much of that we were able to do. I had a private practice of my own years ago with regular people like me, but that's really not where my heart is. To sit with a couple and help them work through whether they're going to Aruba or the Bahamas this year. I don't give a shit.
Let's see what else I do? I built a house for my mom next door to me. She was a widow, and she got extremely isolated because of covid. She was in her 80s, and then she got dementia. Her dementia got terrible, so I spent a couple years taking care of her. She passed away when she was 90, in December of 2022, so I spent the next year mourning all of that, as she and I had a very interesting, difficult relationship. I volunteered to be a big brother, but I couldn’t find a good match because I was more like their big father or grandfather. (Laughs)
Recently, I signed up to help with the local Democratic Committee. I live in the middle of a very Republican area. I'm sure you've heard that phrase Central Pennsylvania is Mississippi, in between Pittsburgh and Philly. So I’ve just been trying to contribute to the public in the best way I can since I’ve retired from SCI Muncy. Artistically, I sing in a local choral group, and we do classical music, modern music, all different kinds of things.
BL: Well, if you picked up your guitar, I think it would be awesome to get the band back together and have you and Miss Naomi work on some stuff. I've been working on her album ya know.
HW: It’s amazing all the things you and Naomi have been able to do and places you’ve been able to go. What can happen in prison, the kind of connections, the kind of relations with other people that can be made there… the correctional system is abhorrent, and it's completely misguided, but nonetheless, sometimes it does pull people out of a downward spiral. It's too bad it has to happen that way. But your story is evidence that it can happen. And you never know, maybe Ms. Naomi and I will create something.
The thing that's so important about music, as a psychologist, one of the things I've noticed about singing is: you can't focus on anything else. So anything disturbing going on inside, anything you're ruminating about - it's gone. Being conscious of our own deaths has cast a spell over us. No other creatures know that. And so there's always this sort of existential, what's the meaning of all this? “I've only got so much time”-feeling in the back of our minds. Music really allows us to be free from all that.
Photo by Brian Goodwin
