Gillian Welch & David Rawlings Bring Fan Favorite & ‘Woodland’ Gem To ‘Colbert’

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings served as the musical guests on Tuesday’s episode of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. The acclaimed folk duo performed one of their most beloved songs and a standout from their latest album, Woodland, at the Ed Sullivan Theater.

Welch and Rawlings are in New York City for a two-night stand at the historic Carnegie Hall, which begins this evening and concludes tomorrow. The pair will then continue their North American tour through June.

Gillian and David played the riveting “Empty Trainload Of Sky” from Woodland for the television audience. The longtime musical partners released the 10-track album through Acony Records last August. Welch and Rawlings won the 2025 Best Folk Album Grammy for the LP named after their long-running Nashville recording facility.

“Woodland is at the heart of everything we do, and has been for the last 20 some years. The past four years were spent almost entirely within its walls, bringing it back to life after the 2020 tornado and making this record. The music is … a swirl of contradictions, emptiness, fullness, joy, grief, destruction, permanence. Now,” the pair stated of Woodland.

Welch and Rawlings also delivered a stirring performance of the fan-favorite song “Look At Miss Ohio” on the Ed Sullivan Theater stage as a web exclusive. The beautiful tune is the opening track of Gillian’s 2003 album, Soul Journey. Welch wrote “Look At Miss Ohio” with Rawlings and contributed the number to the soundtrack for the 2007 documentary Jimmy Carter Man From Plains.

Watch Gillian Welch and David Rawlings performing “Look At Miss Ohio” and “Empty Trainload Of Sky” for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert below: