Brooklyn-based Texas-born Jolie Holland makes music that's full of magic—songs that feel otherworldly and buck everyday constrictions like genre—leaving a trail of desert sand in her wake. A modern day troubadour, she's a roaming, natural-born storyteller with a strong rebellious streak and an uncanny eye for finding the beauty in life's depressing moments. And she has really cool red hair.

Holland moved out east a year ago after calling San Francisco home for many moons. She had a lot of really good friends in New York and decided it was time to go somewhere. There are certain things she misses about her former hometown (impromptu bonfires on the waterfront in Oakland), but loves the regular requests she now gets to play with local experimental musicians on their records. Well that, and the fact for the first time in years, she finally has room to think. "Before I was living in a one-bedroom apartment with three people and a cat," she says. "I was really stressed out and I couldn't write. I haven't had my own room since 2005."

As the title implies, her new album the Living and the Dead is a marriage of past and present but feels timeless—with the exception of guest appearances from indie heavyweights M. Ward and Marc Ribot. Holland equates playing with these beloved musicians to dancing with a new partner: "You just figure it out. You wouldn't dance exactly the same way with someone else."

We've listened to the powerful results and it's clear—this is one fiery redhead you're going to want to waltz with.

Jolie Holland plays Bimbo's on Wednesday night; click here for tickets and more info.

- Caroline Stanley

Similar Topics:live show, new album

comments (0) : Send to a Friend : Subscribe

:  digg this :  del.icio.us! :