Tell us about:

Your latest single you have released:

The newest album is called On a Wing!

Your favourite song that you have created that is an album track:

“That Bird & I.” I was able to take a very solitary, private experience and make it into song. A song about why we sing, why we continue to make music, despite all the chaos and calamity around us. And then at the end of the track, I have a bunch of friends singing with me, taking the music to a place of connection and togetherness. I think it’s the highlight of the album, for sure.

Your favourite song to play live:

“Joy ‘Round My Brain.” It’s an old song by the folk duo Mimi & Richard Fariña. And I usually sing it with Esther, my wife. It’s a lot of fun and people get into it! Plus there are a bunch of birds in the lyrics, which made it perfect for this album.

The song that was the longest to write and why?

Probably “Lucinda.” Very simple, musically. But lyrically, I had to go some places. It’s about a gravesite that gets disturbed, a song about mourning. I was trying to channel some of that old, weird America I hear and love in so many old folk songs. Eventually the idea came to have the story of the song play out in different seasons, different times of year. I didn’t want to rush the writing of this song, because I was tapping into some dark stuff, some mysterious ether of inspiration.

Your most emotional track:

Most might miss it, but there’s a line in the first track, “These Changes”: “Now these changes are coming that turn two to three.” When I wrote that, Esther and I were thinking about having a family. And late last year we welcomed a son! So the song kinda prefigured all that. And strangely enough, when Esther cut her backing vocal for this track, she was pregnant. But we didn’t know it at the time! Beautiful serendipity.

Dream collaboration:

I wouldn’t mind jamming out with Neil Young. That would be next level!

Describe the feeling you get when you walk on stage to do a show:

Trying to connect with the energy of the people in the room. Doing my best to meet them where they are, and hopefully we can go to some interesting places together!

The hardest track to play live:

“Hurriquake” is a bit on the experimental side, and has a really wide dynamic range. It would need a very attuned listening room, the perfect audio situation. Plus I would need to clone the great musician John Kruth several times, as he played a whole bunch of instruments on it!

Essential items you always take on tour with you?

A guitar, a toothbrush, and a tarot deck.

Describe your fans in three words:

Open to mystery.

A song by another artist or band you wish you had written:

“Visions of Johanna” by Bob Dylan is the greatest song ever written.

What we can look forward to from your band this year: 

I’ll be playing as many shows as I can later this year, in support of the new album. That said, I’m already writing for several different new projects. So much new music on the horizon!

Thank you again for all your support in reading and engaging with the website.

If you want to help support the website then you can! You can buy Holly a cup of tea (and a biscuit!)