Author: Holland

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Esther and Holland at John C. Campbell Folk School

Monday, July 22nd, Esther Morgan-Ellis and I play another show in our current run of concerts featuring new old-time music for fiddle and banjo. We’ll be at the illustrious John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina.

Monday, July 22, 2024 8pm
Doctors of Original Fiddle Banjo Duets
John C. Campbell Folk School
1 Folk School Rd
Brasstown NC 28902

I’ve only visited the Folk School once, and that was over 20 years ago when my wife and I went to a concert there on our honeymoon!

We’ll also be playing for the Contra Dance on Tuesday, July 23rd, with dances called by Caller Alex Macleod.

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Sleep Well, Bill Viola

I was saddened to hear that media artist Bill Viola died earlier this week.

One of the first pieces I saw of Viola’s has stuck with me. The Sleepers (1992) shows video of people sleeping. Simple enough, but the CRT monitors are on their backs in the bottoms of 55-gallon drums, submerged in water. The peaceful glow of the light from the barrels and the images of people sleeping, dreaming and breathing is contrasted by the ever present danger of electrocution and drowning. A baptism. A burial. A revelation of how separate our sleeping and waking lives really are. And a suggestion that waking up might not go as planned.

I appreciate the slow, contemplative pace of Viola’s work. His attention to sound is also notable. I wonder if–in a different universe–he might have become a sound artist with an eye for the visual rather than a media artist with an ear for sound.

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Esther & Holland in Dahlonega

set list for concert, showing song names, notes, banjo tunings
set list for tonight’s concert

Tonight Esther Morgan-Ellis and I play the last show in our current run of concerts featuring new old-time music for fiddle and banjo.

Saturday, May 18, 2024 7:30pm
Esther & Holland
University of North Georgia – Dahlonega Campus
Shott Auditorium
Dahlonega GA

We’ve just wrapped up a recording session with John Grimm for all these tunes. So be on the lookout for a future release!

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The Next Moment

The next concert in my Birmingham New Music Festival schedule is The Next Moment, tonight at East Village Arts in Birmingham, Alabama. I’m playing a new piece for extended banjo and live electronics that uses automated phone system samples (“To speak with a customer representative…press 9…”). Craig Hultgren will premiere As Safe As If It Were In The Fire for ecello and live electronics.

Saturday, May 11, 2024 5pm
The Next Moment: Mostly Improv
2024 Birmingham New Music Festival
East Village Arts
7611 1st Ave N
Birmingham AL 35206

Other composers and improvisers on the program include Rob Voisey, the festival’s guest composer visiting from NYC, LaDonna Smith, Michael Coleman, and Joshua David Davis.