The Arrow and The Bow is a musical duo comprised of Hillary Reynolds and Hannah Lou Woods. They debuted the project in 2016 with their self-titled six-song EP. Since then, each has gone on to find great success in their own music and as a songwriter for chart topping artists.
Hillary Reynolds has written songs for high-profile artists like Country superstars Little Big Town. Last year she struck a chord with audiences everywhere with her solo Indie-Folk pandemic reflection “What Faith Is.” She currently splits her time between LA and Nashville, writing music for film, TV and other recording artists.
Hannah Lou Woods is a multi-genre artist who is also one half of the Electro-Pop duo “We Saw Lions.” Their 2020 single “Cellular Upgrade” was a hit, reaching 2.5 million streams on Spotify. A graduate of Boston’s prestigious Berklee college of music with a dual degree in both Music Therapy and Songwriting, Woods is a multi-instrumentalist composer and songwriter whose music reflects her own personal journey of healing, self-discovery, and transformation.
“Universe” is the brand new single from The Arrow and The Bow, released worldwide to all major streaming services on November 15, 2021. The track is an organic, percussive and soulful existential meditation. Addressing the Universe as a single god-like entity, Woods and Reynolds deliver hypnotic layers of vocal harmony as they ask, “Universe, won’t you help me believe in my soul.”
Check out “Universe” below, you can also hear the song on the Deep Indie Dive playlist or listen on your favorite streaming service. We had the chance to chat with The Arrow and The Bow about their new music, old music and plans for the future. Read their answers to our 8 questions below. Follow the links at the end of this article to connect with the group. Get on their socials and get in the loop on all of the current and future projects from these two talented artists.
8 Questions with Hannah Lou Woods and Hillary Reynolds
Where are you from?
Hannah: I’m from Minnesota originally. I’ve also lived in Boston, Upstate NY, and New Mexico. I’m currently living in Rochester, MN.
Hillary: I am from Wisconsin and am currently living in Los Angeles!
How long have you been making music?
Hannah: I’ve been making music since I was very young, started writing songs around age 10 or 11. Hillary and I started making music together in 2012/2013 back in Boston.
Hillary: My first memories of playing music were with my family at my grandparents’ house on the lake – my grandma has this old baby grand piano that I would lay under as she and my aunt played. I remember climbing the blue bench that had a rose on it and banging on the keys – I was hooked.
Who are the musicians involved in your project?
Hannah Lou Woods and Hillary Reynolds.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
Hannah: Probably Bruce Hornsby for piano, Alexi Murdoch for guitar, Bob Marley for his sincerity/heart, and Sara Barielles / Regina Spektor for their overall artistry.
Hillary: There are so many great musical creators that I’m inspired by on a song to song basis, spanning across all decades. The constants are my family for inspiration, Carole King for being a chameleon of hits – writing for Little Eva to James Taylor, The Beach Boys for harmony, Fleetwood Mac and The Beatles (George Martin) for their sound and songwriting, Tom Petty for his ability to distill life’s complexities and heaviness into ear worms.
What is your greatest non-musical influence?
Hannah: The amount of time I spend in nature and meditation, journaling, my husband / close friends / support system, and I also love to read – I get a lot of ideas after reading 🙂
Hillary: Nature – a good lake swim always grounds me as well as hikes with my husband. Last year, during the 2020 quarantine, we decided to summit as many peaks in the Angeles National Forest that we could. My favorite was Joesephine. I also enjoy reading fiction books – I love getting lost in other people’s worlds and having backyard fires friends brings me so much joy.
What inspired you to create this project?
Hannah: Hillary and I were back in Boston, both attending Berklee College of Music, and we’d become friends. We were hanging out one day and Hillary said she really wanted to travel to Ireland, and I said, “well I really want to go to Scotland.” So we decided we’d travel to those countries together.
We had the idea that it would be fun to play some music while we were there, and we started to book ourselves a tour. It ended up being this very healing and heart-opening experience for us. We ended up writing some songs together, about that journey of healing, self-awareness, and growth… and that’s how we became The Arrow And The Bow.
What are your plans for the future (musically)?
We are working on our next single and hope to release it sometime next year. Since we live in different states, we’re exploring remote-recording. We plan to keep writing and making more music! We also have our other solo projects and collaborations that we are both working on outside of this project. (We Saw Lions, Peridot).
Is there anything else you would like to say?
We hope that this song can help people feel uplifted and empowered, the way it has for us. A huge thank you to High Vibe Records and DMK publicity for the support on this.