10
Jan
2006
It's tempting to label the musical accomplishments of the Holmes Brothers as "unclassifiable," but that's not entirely accurate. Their sound is easily classifiable. As blues. And gospel. And rock.
And country.
The Holmes Brothers - bassist Sherman Holmes, guitarist and younger brother Wendell Holmes, and drummer Willie "Popsy" Dixon, all of whom also provide vocals - will perform at Rock Island's Rocket Theatre at 8 p.m. on Saturday, January 21, and have, for more than 25 years, based their musical reputations on being impossible to categorize. Though described by the Chicago Tribune as "the undisputed masters of blues-based American roots music," their musical tastes and influences reach far and wide; in fact, their most recent CD - 2004's Simple Truths - features such an eclectic sampling of styles that the Holmes Brothers' original compositions sit alongside covers of songs by Willie Nelson, Bob Marley, Hank Williams, and Collective Soul ... and none of the tracks seems incongruous with the others.
Yet despite performing in a group that embraces such varied musical tastes, Sherman Holmes' lyrics, in particular, are beautifully straightforward; in the opening refrain of Simple Truths' final track - a plaintive blues number, written by Sherman, entitled "I'm So Lonely" - he sings, "I'm so lonely, and my world is not the same / Girl, I'm so lonely, and my world is not the same / A smile is full of sunshine, but my tears fall just like rain."
Equally succint is the singer's explanation for the variety of musical influences heard in the Holmes Brothers most recent CD: "We just like all kinds of music," the 65-year-old Sherman said in a recent phone interview.
Simple truths, indeed.
Sherman's and Wendell's musical education began with their parents in the rural town of Christchurch, Virginia, where the Holmes brothers grew up on a steady diet of gospel - mostly traditional Baptist hymns of the type the boys sang together in their church choir - and the blues. "We especially liked B.B. King," says Sherman.
Yet even as youths, Sherman and Wendell were musically experimental. "When I was a little kid," Sherman recalls, "Wendell and I listened to all sorts of music on the radio," and the brothers found themselves especially drawn to country music. "We used to love Hank Williams, of course, and Tennessee Ernie Ford."
Much of the music that he and Wendell were enjoying, Sherman admits, "we listened to under the covers," as the country and rock tunes of the '50s didn't sit well with all members of the Holmes family.
"My grandfather didn't approve," says Sherman, who adds with a laugh, "but he didn't live with us!"
Once at Virginia State University, where he briefly studied music theory and composition, Sherman's musical tastes continued to expand; "I took a lot of classical music in college," he says. Yet he found himself allured by the possibility of performing professionally, and chose to leave school to pursue a career in New York City, a decision based in part, Sherman says, on being wowed by what the town looked like on television. "I just decided to go where the big lights were," he says.
After graduating from high school, younger brother Wendell also moved to New York, where Sherman, at the time, was performing with legendary R&B tenor Jimmy Jones. The brothers played onstage together in a series of New York-based musical groups and then, in 1963, formed the Sevilles. During their three years under that moniker, Sherman and Wendell found themselves touring with artists such as John Lee Hooker and Jerry Butler. "That was a time," says Sherman.
And one that was just beginning. It was in 1967 that the Sherman and Wendell first met Willie "Popsy" Dixon, a drummer and fellow Virginian, who occasionally played onstage with both Holmes brothers and eventually toured - for a decade - with Wendell in a trio led by singer Tommy Knight. Yet after Knight decided to leave New York City for Florida in 1979, Wendell and Popsy chose instead to stay in the Big Apple with Sherman, and together, the three declared that Popsy and the Holmes brothers would henceforth be known - officially - as the Holmes Brothers. The trio's name was fitting, Sherman says, because "Poppy played with my brother, and he'd always been our brother."
Because the Holmes Brothers were all well-versed in different musical genres, they were able to perform in disparate New York City nightclubs on a regular basis. But if not for a newly opened Manhattan bar named Dan Lynch's, the trio might have remained a hard-working but mostly unheralded group.
"We met a harmonica player named Bill Dicey," says Sherman, "who hasn't gotten enough accolades." In the late '70s, Dicey was booking acts for Dan Lynch's, and Sherman recalls "they wanted to do a blues jam on Sundays." Dicey heard, and loved, the Holmes Brothers' soulful performance at one of the bar's first jam sessions, and due to Dicey's influence, the group soon found itself a regular performer at the Manhattan tavern, which was thrilling not only for the exposure, but, Sherman admits, for the money. "You could walk out of there with $2,000 in a night," he marvels.
Before closing its doors forever in 1996, Dan Lynch's was the go-to spot for New York blues artists - including Joan Osborne and future members of Blues Traveler - and in the late '80s, the Holmes Brothers and their signature, "unclassifiable" style caught the attention of Rounder Records producer Andy Breslau, who signed the group to his label in 1989.
The Holmes Brothers went on to record four albums with Rounder before embarking on their current tenure with Alligator Records - under whose label the group recorded Simple Truths and 2001's Speaking in Tongues (produced by Osborne) - and have, in the last decade, been featured performers on The Late Show with David Letterman and NPR's Prairie Home Companion, recorded with the likes of Van Morrison and Peter Gabriel, and performed in a fundraiser for Bill Clinton's reelection campaign.
Sherman, who is currently in the process of building a house on the Virginia property owned by his parents (yet will continue to spend much of his time in New York), doesn't foresee the Holmes Brothers putting a stop to their musical accomplishments any time soon. "I can live anywhere, I can travel back and forth. ... We've been playing together for 35 years now. Can you believe it?"
And he laughs, as he should, without even a hint of the blues.
The Holmes Brothers, with musical guests Jim the Mule, will perform at the Rocket Theatre on Saturday, January 21. The show starts at 8 p.m. For tickets or more information, visit (http://www.rockettheater.com).
And country.
The Holmes Brothers - bassist Sherman Holmes, guitarist and younger brother Wendell Holmes, and drummer Willie "Popsy" Dixon, all of whom also provide vocals - will perform at Rock Island's Rocket Theatre at 8 p.m. on Saturday, January 21, and have, for more than 25 years, based their musical reputations on being impossible to categorize. Though described by the Chicago Tribune as "the undisputed masters of blues-based American roots music," their musical tastes and influences reach far and wide; in fact, their most recent CD - 2004's Simple Truths - features such an eclectic sampling of styles that the Holmes Brothers' original compositions sit alongside covers of songs by Willie Nelson, Bob Marley, Hank Williams, and Collective Soul ... and none of the tracks seems incongruous with the others.
Yet despite performing in a group that embraces such varied musical tastes, Sherman Holmes' lyrics, in particular, are beautifully straightforward; in the opening refrain of Simple Truths' final track - a plaintive blues number, written by Sherman, entitled "I'm So Lonely" - he sings, "I'm so lonely, and my world is not the same / Girl, I'm so lonely, and my world is not the same / A smile is full of sunshine, but my tears fall just like rain."
Equally succint is the singer's explanation for the variety of musical influences heard in the Holmes Brothers most recent CD: "We just like all kinds of music," the 65-year-old Sherman said in a recent phone interview.
Simple truths, indeed.
Sherman's and Wendell's musical education began with their parents in the rural town of Christchurch, Virginia, where the Holmes brothers grew up on a steady diet of gospel - mostly traditional Baptist hymns of the type the boys sang together in their church choir - and the blues. "We especially liked B.B. King," says Sherman.
Yet even as youths, Sherman and Wendell were musically experimental. "When I was a little kid," Sherman recalls, "Wendell and I listened to all sorts of music on the radio," and the brothers found themselves especially drawn to country music. "We used to love Hank Williams, of course, and Tennessee Ernie Ford."
Much of the music that he and Wendell were enjoying, Sherman admits, "we listened to under the covers," as the country and rock tunes of the '50s didn't sit well with all members of the Holmes family.
"My grandfather didn't approve," says Sherman, who adds with a laugh, "but he didn't live with us!"
Once at Virginia State University, where he briefly studied music theory and composition, Sherman's musical tastes continued to expand; "I took a lot of classical music in college," he says. Yet he found himself allured by the possibility of performing professionally, and chose to leave school to pursue a career in New York City, a decision based in part, Sherman says, on being wowed by what the town looked like on television. "I just decided to go where the big lights were," he says.
After graduating from high school, younger brother Wendell also moved to New York, where Sherman, at the time, was performing with legendary R&B tenor Jimmy Jones. The brothers played onstage together in a series of New York-based musical groups and then, in 1963, formed the Sevilles. During their three years under that moniker, Sherman and Wendell found themselves touring with artists such as John Lee Hooker and Jerry Butler. "That was a time," says Sherman.
And one that was just beginning. It was in 1967 that the Sherman and Wendell first met Willie "Popsy" Dixon, a drummer and fellow Virginian, who occasionally played onstage with both Holmes brothers and eventually toured - for a decade - with Wendell in a trio led by singer Tommy Knight. Yet after Knight decided to leave New York City for Florida in 1979, Wendell and Popsy chose instead to stay in the Big Apple with Sherman, and together, the three declared that Popsy and the Holmes brothers would henceforth be known - officially - as the Holmes Brothers. The trio's name was fitting, Sherman says, because "Poppy played with my brother, and he'd always been our brother."
Because the Holmes Brothers were all well-versed in different musical genres, they were able to perform in disparate New York City nightclubs on a regular basis. But if not for a newly opened Manhattan bar named Dan Lynch's, the trio might have remained a hard-working but mostly unheralded group.
"We met a harmonica player named Bill Dicey," says Sherman, "who hasn't gotten enough accolades." In the late '70s, Dicey was booking acts for Dan Lynch's, and Sherman recalls "they wanted to do a blues jam on Sundays." Dicey heard, and loved, the Holmes Brothers' soulful performance at one of the bar's first jam sessions, and due to Dicey's influence, the group soon found itself a regular performer at the Manhattan tavern, which was thrilling not only for the exposure, but, Sherman admits, for the money. "You could walk out of there with $2,000 in a night," he marvels.
Before closing its doors forever in 1996, Dan Lynch's was the go-to spot for New York blues artists - including Joan Osborne and future members of Blues Traveler - and in the late '80s, the Holmes Brothers and their signature, "unclassifiable" style caught the attention of Rounder Records producer Andy Breslau, who signed the group to his label in 1989.
The Holmes Brothers went on to record four albums with Rounder before embarking on their current tenure with Alligator Records - under whose label the group recorded Simple Truths and 2001's Speaking in Tongues (produced by Osborne) - and have, in the last decade, been featured performers on The Late Show with David Letterman and NPR's Prairie Home Companion, recorded with the likes of Van Morrison and Peter Gabriel, and performed in a fundraiser for Bill Clinton's reelection campaign.
Sherman, who is currently in the process of building a house on the Virginia property owned by his parents (yet will continue to spend much of his time in New York), doesn't foresee the Holmes Brothers putting a stop to their musical accomplishments any time soon. "I can live anywhere, I can travel back and forth. ... We've been playing together for 35 years now. Can you believe it?"
And he laughs, as he should, without even a hint of the blues.
The Holmes Brothers, with musical guests Jim the Mule, will perform at the Rocket Theatre on Saturday, January 21. The show starts at 8 p.m. For tickets or more information, visit (http://www.rockettheater.com).
