Holly Williams

Well, we went to the concert night before last & Ms. Williams did not disappoint. Smith’s Olde Bar had their “small bar table” setup for the show (as opposed to standing room only) and, being the first ones in the doors, we snagged a little bar table & seats front & center. Holly played a great acoustic set, accompanied on some tunes by her new husband, Chris Coleman, also on guitar. She played several songs from her new album, and a great cover of John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery”. She closed out the show with a rousing gospel sing-along, “I Saw The Light”.

But for me, the surprise highlight of the evening was the first opening act. Sarah & I always try to catch any & all opening acts for shows we attend – sometimes they are unremarkable, other times we make a great personal discovery of an artist who was previous unbeknown to us. Night before last was a sterling example of the latter.

A singer / songwriter named Julie Gribble played a great opening set. Actually from Atlanta, she had relocated to LA, but has recently returned to our fair city. Playing alone on stage on acoustic guitar while charmingly barefoot, she blew us away with her original songwriting & wonderful voice. I got to chat with her & her boyfriend at the bar prior to Holly’s set, and she is really nice & sweet to boot – a real “cool chick.” 8)

I was so enthralled with her performance that, after her set, I immediately headed to the merch table in the back & purchased her new CD, Letting Go, as well as a copy of her previous album, Echoes In My Head. Both albums are already on my iPod & I have been enjoying them immensely over the last 2 days. And, she is scheduled to play tomorrow at Piedmont Park in Atlanta as part of the annual Dogwood Festival, so we are going to try & fight the crowds & go see her again – the weather is supposed to be perfect.

Any way, she has a extensive sampling of MP3s on her Web site here. Also, samples of each of the tracks from her new album can be sampled on Amazon here (although they are not available for sale until May 1st). So go check her out!

Tom

Holly’s new album, The Highway is simply wonderful. Sparsely produced, her wonderful voice & the music take center stage. A track stand-out for me is “Gone Away From Me” w/ Jackson Browne on backing vocals. It is beautiful & achingly poignant. Check it out!

We are seeing her perform next Thursday night at Eddie Owen’s (of Eddie’s Attic fame) new venue, the Red Clay Theatre. I can’t wait!

Tom

Last night’s show was one of those very special nights for me. First of all, I walked into Eddie Owen’s (former owner of the legendary venue in Decatur, GA, Eddie’s Attic) new suburban Atlanta venue, the Red Clay Theatre, in a highly-charged emotional state. Earlier in the day, something that had been bothering me greatly for two years was satisfactorily resolved, much to my relief. It is personal in nature, so we will leave it at that… 😉

Opening for Holly was a very talented singer-songwriter named Matthew Perryman-Jones. The name rang a bell for me, but I could not place from where, and I knew I had never seen him perform before. He played an excellent opening set, just him singing with his acoustic guitar.

Then Holly took the stage. A tall, statuesque blond, she was lovely in blue jeans, knee-high brown leather boots and a white top covered by a dark, long-sleeved outer shirt. Accompanying her for the evening was her husband, Chris Coleman, on guitar and a young lady (I didn’t catch her name) playing electric upright bass. Behind Holly on stage was a lovely grand piano.

They played nearly every song from Holly’s outstanding new album, The Highway (this album is definitely the real deal, folks – you are really missing out if you have not heard it!), plus two songs from her previous two albums (one from each), and two covers (the set list is below, with “Perfesser-esque” bracketed comments). Late in the set, Holly mentioned that this was her seventh night performing in a row & apologized for her voice being “shot”, although it didn’t sound like it to me! 😉

Two songs she performed from her new album, “Gone Away From Me” & “Waiting On June”, are highly emotionally-charged songs about loss that teared me up unlike any other songs besides those of Lu’s that get to me in the same way (“Blue”, “Bus To Baton Rouge”, “Pineola”, e.g.). During “Waiting On June” I looked around the rest of the audience near us & saw many an eye being dabbed with a tissue or shirt sleeve. Just an amazing, amazing song…

The Red Clay Theatre is an old church, converted into a 257-seat music venue “for the acoustic singer-songwriter” in the same vein as Eddie’s Attic. The sound was simply amazing (we sat third row, center, thanks to some friends who saved us two seats), and was commented on several times by Holly during her set (“We are getting spoiled!”). It is awesome having such a cool venue dedicated to the music we love so near our home (10 miles). I can’t wait to go back & I can’t wait to see Holly again! Here’s the set list:

Sometimes [lead track from her first album, The Ones We Never Knew]
Drinkin’
Gone Away From Me [preceded by Holly telling about Charlie Peacock, who produced the new album, asking her who her “dream duet” partner would be, to which she responded “Jackson Browne”, who ultimately guested on the album on this track]
Railroads
The Highway [preceded by a story about their Charleston, SC show the night before which had all of 12 people in the audience (Chris amended that to 18), complete with three “drunken 19-year-olds” right up front who kept screaming how much they loved Hank Jr. & how badly they wanted to hear “Family Tradition”, until Chris said he told them they were there to see the “wrong Williams”. This was followed by Chris saying it was “good to be home” & that he had family in attendance, including his 83-year-old “Granny”]
‘Til It Runs Dry [introduced as some “three-part harmony” featuring Dierks Bentley on the album, for whom the upright bass player substituted]
Alone [from her second album, Here With Me – Chris & the bass player left the stage for this song & the next, which Holly performed solo on the grand piano]
Without You [followed by Chris & the bass player re-taking the stage & Chris asking Holly, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, “Who’s that song about, Honey?”]
Giving Up [introduced as a song about the addiction problems of a dear friend]
Waiting On June [in introducing this song, Holly related that while everyone knows about her famous musical family on her father’s side, not many know about her mother’s family from a small town in “the Louisiana pines” named Mer Rouge, at which point the lady & gentleman sitting immediately to Sarah’s & my right “whooped” & said they were actually Holly’s cousins on her Mama’s side!]
Angel From Montgomery [John Prine cover]

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I Saw The Light [Hank Williams, Sr. cover – introduced as “a family song” that Chris said they didn’t play for the “knuckleheads” last night]

After the show, I purchased another copy of The Highway so I could get Holly to sign it for me (I forgot to bring my copy), so I now have a mint, unsigned copy of it for sale to anyone who may be interested… 😆

Tom

She was from North Louisiana in the town of Mer Rouge
I fell in love in a week or two
It didn’t take long to love a girl like that
We were barely ten in the cotton fields
Playing horseshoe with the colored kids
I tried to kiss her, she grabbed a baseball bat

I was waiting on June, I hope she comes to see me
Waiting on June, I can’t take this feeling
Waiting on June, I pray to God she’ll love me one of these days
I hope I find my way waiting on June

I went off in ’42 to fight those boys and pay my dues
Her wallet picture kept my spirits high
Charley boy died in my arms, he saw Jesus, I saw blood
It soaked her wallet picture that cold night

Well I told my best friend Charley I would kiss his girl goodbye
He made me promise I’d go home and make Miss June my wife
Shaking like a drunk old fool, I hopped off of that plane
And I ran home to ask her in the rain

Waiting on June, I hope that she says yes
Waiting on June, in her faded summer dress
Waiting on June, her daddy shook my hand
And she lit up the moment I pulled out that silver band
Waiting on June

Well we married at the Methodist Church
Found a big white cow and a piece of dirt
With pecan trees to build our homestead on
Jolynn, Becky, then Donna, then Shelby
Our tiny house was a sanctuary
Laughter filled those rooms all day long

And we were waiting on June, she’s putting on her makeup
Waiting on June, she’s trying to get her hair curled
Waiting on June, kids listen to me
You walk on down to Sunday school, I’ll be there in 15
Waiting on June

Well time flew by like they said it would
Yeah the kids grew fast and the farm did good
Miss Bertha made our supper everyday
At noon that silver bell would ring
We’d all say grace and dig on in
We always ate together in those days

Oh, one by one those kids went off and found a love of their own
There’s nothing like the joy I knew when they brought their babies home
We’d play all day in the cotton fields with the dogs I raised up right
And end in Grandma’s kitchen every night

Waiting on June, Honey don’t burn the bacon
Waiting on June, our bellies are a-aching
Waiting on June, she turns that fork so slow
And we all had to sit there ’til the last bite was no more
Waiting on June

We were slower than we used to be, the nursing home told June and me
That we’d have separate rooms side by side
Oh what I’d give for one more night of sleeping with my wife
Since ’45 I’ve touched her skin in the middle of the night
So I’m lyin’ in this single bed until they cut the lights
That’s when she’ll sneak in and I’ll be fine

Waiting on June, so we can kiss goodnight
Waiting on June, I’ll hold her hand so tight
Waiting on June, I’ll love her ’til I die
It’s bittersweet when love grows old and you really miss your wife
Waiting on June

Well they buried me last Tuesday morn
The good Lord came, He took me home
I closed my eyes and quickly went away
But the angels let me see her everyday

Waiting on June, our mansion is so grand
Waiting on June, footprints in the sand
Waiting on June, that’s the story of my life
‘Cause me and Jesus are standing here ’til she walks through that light
Waiting on June

I’m still waiting on June
I’m always waiting on June
No more waiting on June