Update: Jolie Holland drops a new EP
The word is yes. The Jolie Holland Band is dropping a record and heading out on tour. The band, comprised of Jolie Holland and Max Knouse, lands in Oregon to launch the summer shows on Wednesday, July 16 at the Art House chapel hall venue in Eugene. This lucky audience will be the first to hear the new recording, and the first to hear it played live. It is a tribute album released as an EP called, Wolf Dispatch. Knouse performs the title track, a solid cover of Hurley's 1984 song off Blue Navigator. It was conceived as a cover album to celebrate the life of late folk legend Michael Hurley, lost to us this spring. "Wolf Dispatch" is a tribute to Hurley's vast repertoire.
The recording features seven songs, including "B Bottom Girl," a song Holland performed as a request by Hurley ten years back. Songs included on the Wolf Dispatch list are, "I Paint A Design," "Hog of the Forsaken," "O my Stars" and "The Vermont-Oregon Floor." Some samples, as well as rehearsal takes and album notes are published at Jolie Holland's Patreon page.
Jolie Holland's exquisite talent as an American singer/songwriter and instrumentalist is deeply rooted in folk traditions and continues to evolve. Today, this singer's magical entrancing voice graces her musical creations in an amalgamation of blues, jazz, rock and alternative experimental soundscapes.
"Ghost Woman Blues" is a Hurley cover of George Carter. On Wolf Dispatch, it is the final track, sung by Holland. The recording, at a home studio in Los Angeles, is inducted by an impromptu coyote chorus, captured like a freak of nature, serendipitous synchronicity, just as the recording hit play. Take after take, it was the take that took. The recording also captured sirens and her dog Jocko, chiming in with the coyotes. As it happened, "Jocko," Holland's adored doggo's namesake, comes from Hurley's creative legacy.
Holland was driving home through the southwestern desert, returning from her last tour, when she heard the news. She said Shane Kennedy sent a text that Hurley was dead. She spent a day in tears then found inspiration to put together a Michael Hurley tribute album, as coincidence would have it, attending a wake for the anniversary of Townes Van Zandt's death, amongst a roomful of musicians.
Michael Hurley was a friend of Holland. She worked with the seasoned 1970s musician a few times, and even picked up some songwriting tips. From this folk singer with a cult-like following, she explains, "I learned that you can punch a few heavyweight lines in a song, then it's okay for the rest of the lyrics to coast merrily downhill." Lightness is not a bad thing. Her ballad, "Amen," was partly influenced by Hurley. In 2003, she was given a copy of Long Journey by Lemon DeGeorge, who engineered Escondida and Springtime Can Kill You. In "Amen," she was "emboldened" to write from her personal experience.
Holland, a youngster compared to Hurley, born in 1975, in Houston, respects Hurley's musical talent. The Texas native, whose adoptive home is L.A., offers kind words. Discussing 'New Tea," Holland writes, "He plays guitar like he's breathing, like no one else plays guitar." Elaborating, she said, "He paints a picture of an animist world that we must traverse with cunning and taut attention, I can't think of any other song that does these kinds of things."
Wolf Dispatch is mastered by Jamie Hill with additional engineering by David Robbins, Rob VanVranken, Ben Boye, Doug Jenkins and Larry Crane. Album artwork and illustrations by Jack Fallows. Cover art can be seen at Jolie Holland's Patreon.
Jolie Holland solo works include, Catalpa (2003) The Living and the Dead (2008), Wine Dark Sea (2014) and Haunted Mountain (2023).
Upcoming Tour:
July 16 - The Art House, Eugene, OR
July 17 - Polaris Hall, Portland, OR
July 19 - Madame Lou's, Seattle, WA
July 20 - Wild Buffalo, Bellingham, WA
July 22 - CA Pageant Theater, Chico, CA with special guest Jonathan Richman
July 24 - The Pearl in Historic Locke, Walnut Grove, CA
July 27 - Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA
September UK tour and other tour details:
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