Hollywood knocks on Greenville songwriter’s door

A law school grad, Alexa Woodward negotiates her music contracts and is considering doing so for other artists. “Sometimes you just want someone to look over something and assure that it’s not some terrible trap that’s going to ruin your life,” she says. (Credit: Courtesy of Alexa Woodward)

Auburn-haired folk singer Alexa Woodward isn’t sure why people keep putting her music into films and TV. Her dandelion-delicate songs have appeared in Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance,” an upcoming feature called “The Fatboy Chronicles” and during closing credits for “Twilight in Forks,” a documentary on the “Twilight” movie series.

“I know a lot of people spend a lot of money submitting their music. And I’ve never done that,” says Woodward, 28, calling on an iPhone from the back porch of her Greenville home. Instead, she received e-mail inquiries from licensing companies in Los Angeles and England that had discovered her tunes online.

One of the most beautiful songs Woodward has written, “Eleanor,” was inspired by lachrymose circumstances. Five years ago, Woodward was working as a HIV case manager in Boston, and one of her clients became a casualty of self-destruction and domestic abuse.

“Sometimes you have pivotal people who come into your life, and they challenge your whole world view,” Woodward says. “I just couldn’t ever figure it out. Why would she have the life she had? I remember playing this song for my co-workers and all of us crying. It was a really intense job, and sometimes I had to write just to keep my head on my shoulders.”

Alexa Woodward plays Music in the Woods at Paris Mountain State Park (with Jeff Prater) at 6 p.m. July 17. The show is free, but it'll cost you $2 per person to get into the park. For more information, visit dryridge.org or www.alexawoodward.com.