Holly Near —Bringing songs, stories, laughter and social change music to Chicago…
by Sue Barrett
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Holly Near
pix by Susan Wilson |
“Love rather than hate. Respect rather than attack. Non violence over violence. Listening more than talking. Active more than passive. Stillness more than noise.” — Holly Near
American troops were fighting overseas, when Californian singer/songwriter Holly Near first performed in Chicago.
And American troops will still be fighting overseas, when Near returns to Chicago in late April for a performance with emma’s revolution (Pat Humphries/Sandy Opatow) and Voices.
“The most important issue on my mind is the war against Iraq…It has already cost the US over $500 billion — or more than $4000 per household — and Bush is asking for another $105 billion. Four thousand US servicemembers have been killed, with some 30,000 wounded. And there has been a dramatic rise in the number of US soldiers trying to kill themselves since the Iraq war began. Life is unbearably hard in Iraq and the Iraqi death toll is a million from direct war and the consequences of war. There are two million Iraqi refugees out of the country and another 2.5 million displaced inside the country out of a total population of 27 million. Bush made up this war. He continues to order this war.
“It is my belief that every organization and individual should include a protest against Bush’s policy in Iraq as part of their work.”
Holly Near was raised on a farm in northern California, with Redwood trees (Redwood Records was her first record label), calico cats in the barn (Calico Tracks Music is her current record label) and Hereford cattle (Hereford Music is her music publishing company).
As well as being involved in music, Near has been an actor — appearing in films (e.g. Slaughterhouse Five, Minnie and Moskowitz), on television (e.g. All in the Family, Mod Squad, The Partridge Family) and in Hair on Broadway.
“I tried the music industry and the film industry at first. But I just wasn’t cut out for it. It was competitive and I was more interested in building community. One had to be careful not to offend the audience. I didn’t know how to calculate that given the audience was not of one mind. I didn’t know how to dress. I used words that were considered too political. There were artists who were political in the music business and I couldn’t see how they were getting away with it and I wasn’t. Maybe you could be against the war but you couldn’t use the word genocide. Something like that. Or at least you couldn’t if you were a Pollyanna looking girl like me. I found it confusing. And then there was an alternative right before me so I chose the path less traveled as they say.”
One of the first things Holly Near did on that “path less traveled” was to establish her own record company.
“I started Redwood Records in 1972 mainly to record my first album [Hang in There (1973)]. This was a collection of songs I wrote when I came back from the FTA Tour (Free The Army, a show that we performed for soldiers and service women who were opposing war and racism from within the military). They were very outspoken songs. I had not yet decided to work outside the mainstream. It was just a way to record these songs. I was still working in film and television in Hollywood. However, it turned out that people in the peace movement really liked the songs. Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden asked me if I would join them on the Indochina Peace Campaign Tour in the US to try and end the war against Indochina. I agreed. And that really jump started my relationship with a national audience.
“At one point, I found the music of Dr Bernice Johnson Reagon. She had founded a group called Sweet Honey In The Rock. I took some of the money I had made from film and TV work and offered it to them to record. That was the first record Redwood Records did with artists other than myself.
“For the first few years, my parents and a few friends helped with packing and shipping and bookkeeping of Redwood but then as it began to grow, I realized Redwood Records needed to become more organized, expand staff, etc. Now, that said, Redwood’s greatest achievements and our failures were one of the same. I would find artists that I felt were deserving of being recorded without altering their lyrics, their cultural identity. This included artists from around the world. That was a very exciting work to do. It was also very expensive. We could never get in front of the costs.”
Over the years, Holly Near has toured extensively, including Nicaragua, Chile, Australia, Canada, Europe, Argentina, Cuba, Uruguay, Vietnam, El Salvador, Mexico and North America.
“I have caught myself calling what ever hotel I’m in ‘home’. Home is where I sleep at night. Then there is the home where my stuff is shelved. There is the home where my family lives. There is the home where my political community expresses its humanity. I have some very good friends who have known me for thirty or forty years. They live all over.
“I don’t stay healthy all the time. But I do pretty well given my lifestyle. I try to eat well, sleep enough, and stay calm. Then if I veer from that from time to time, I have a good solid foundation from which to stray and I know how to get back on track.”
In taking her music around the world, Near has performed in places torn apart by war and poverty.
“Going to Botswana a few years ago and to Chile last year [2007] were both great trips. I have written about those trips on my web site and there are photos there as well. Going to the Pacific with FTA [1971], that was a trip that really changed the direction of my life. The soldiers as well as the people who live in the occupied countries taught me about how US foreign policy works. I was in The Philippines, Okinawa, Hawaii, Japan. The US military was everywhere in full force. My trip to El Salvador at the height of the war was very moving, people so brave, their lives so torn apart, threatened daily. But one doesn’t have to leave the US to see war and poverty. I have sung in prisons and on reservations and schools.”
With her acting background, it’s not surprising that Holly Near enjoys performing in theaters.
“I like beautiful theaters with great pianos and lovely lights and good acoustics. I like to be able to hear a pin drop, to allow the drama of a song to ride over a breathless audience. Hmm. My favorite. However, I also sing from the back of a flat bed truck in the rain with a megaphone if that is what is required.
“I do requests sometimes. I might invite the audience to write a song on a napkin or business card or what ever and I will sort through the suggestions. But I like to build a set so it has a nice arch to it and then have the flexibility to change it mid stream if I feel like it. My pianist, John Bucchino, and I have worked together for 23 years or so. He is on leave at the moment because a musical he wrote [A Catered Affair] is opening on Broadway. But he knows my work so well that I can move into a song without telling him and he is able to move there with me. That is a great luxury.”
Near’s songs cover love and friendship, war and peace; spirituality and healing, as well as GLBT and feminist issues.
“When I write a song or tell a story I try not to perpetuate stereotypes and misinformation. But I do have opinions and that immediately makes inclusivity complex. For the most part, I try to invite people to step up to their best selves. I encourage people to be open to information, to accept that what we have been taught might be misinformed. I find life is more interesting when we move from a place of fascination rather than from fear. Love rather than hate. Respect rather than attack. Non violence over violence. Listening more than talking. Active more than passive. Stillness more than noise. Thrilling at the natural sounds of birds and music and the roar of lions. You know, all that fabulous poetic behavior. Sometimes it works, sometimes it is just a disaster. And sometimes I am just not all that spiritually elevated, like when it comes to George Bush. Hard to have compassion for him or Henry Kissinger.”
For many years, Holly Near’s life has intersected that of another singer/songwriter — Cris Williamson (who will be performing in Chicago in May).
“I met Cris in the early ’70s. Don’t remember exactly why or where. Many of the artists investigating feminism were crossing paths…We did a double bill at a music club in LA called The Troubadour. They didn’t allow double bills with two women. We broke that tradition. Recently I was invited to sing on the 35th anniversary Olivia cruise. I met up with Meg Christian who I hadn’t seen in 30 years. We sang together. It was fun. I put some of that story up on my web site.
“My papers are at Schlesinger Library, a women’s archival institution that is part of Radcliffe which is part of Harvard. I approached them many years ago and they were enthusiastic and helpful so that I might get 40 years of material out of my garage and into some useful form. So many people come up to me after concerts with stories about how they first heard my music or maybe they produced a concert or organized a rally I was part of. I have encouraged them to write it down and send it to the collection. The collection is not intended to be about me just for the sake of me, but rather to tell the story of social change activism and song as it has unfolded. It is good to have a focal point, so there I am, but it is most interesting when the details roll in and that is more about others than about me.
“I’m not sure how it is now for young artists. On one hand they have more access to making a CD, they have the internet. On the other hand everyone has the internet so even if you record something of worth, how do you get the attention of the audience? I am not sure, but I’m guessing there are less live venues although house concerts have become very popular. For me, the access was in building a relationship with social change movements. And, as timing would have it, I was one of the first anti war singers to write and sing from a woman identified perspective. The fact that I did that just as a new and very energetic wave of feminism was merging with a strong peace movement rising was a good match.”
In late April, Holly Near will be in Chicago — to perform with emma’s revolution (Pat Humphries/Sandy Opatow) and Voices.
“I probably performed first in Chicago when I was traveling with the Indochina Peace Campaign in 1972 more or less. And I have been returning there ever since. I have done solo work as well as concerts with Ronnie Gilbert, Inti Illimani and no doubt many other collaborations. I have been there on an election day. That is fun. Chicago has its own way! I was there for the recent Gay Games, sang at the opening ceremony. I always take advantage of that fabulous city when I’m there. Can’t do it all each time, but little by little, I have really gotten to enjoy Chicago.
“I crossed paths with emma’s revolution at rallies and folk festivals and I started asking them to join me on a song here, a song there. Then when John Bucchino went off to do his Broadway show, I asked them to do some concerts with me. It has turned out to be a really nice mix. I am now, because they play guitars, officially a folk singer! As for Voices, I met them at the protest against The School of the Americas down in southern Georgia.
“At our Chicago performance, Voices will open with a few songs. Then emma’s revolution and I will take it from there. I do some of my material a cappella which I find very satisfying. They work with voice and guitars. When we do our material together, we have three voices. I like very much the vocal sound we have developed.
“It is amazing to me how many people come up after a concert saying they were dragged there by a friend but that they had a great time and in fact, didn’t know there was social change music. They have some idea that it only happened in the ’60s. Now that is one of the great cultural tragedies of our time. That is what happens when corporations own media. There are lots of social change artists today. I have started a list on my web site just to prove the point. We have to interrupt the rumor that it doesn’t exist . One way to do that is to bring a friend to this concert who has never heard a good peace and justice song!”
Holly Near performs in Chicago on Sunday 27 April 2008, with emma’s revolution (Pat Humphries/Sandy Opatow) and Voices, at the Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ.
More info
www.hollynear.com
www.emmasrevolution.com
www.myspace.com/voiceschicago
www.waucc.org/near.php
SUE BARRETT is an Australian music writer, with a special interest in women in music.
© 2008
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