On the Playlist 22MAY2021…

On a tip from a friend I discovered a new artist for the playlist. I was out camping this weekend and by recommendation of a friend I checked out Holly Bowling. Luckily, I downloaded the tracks I had before I lost cell signal and am very happy that I did. While I usually listen to audio books from my local library on this trip I decided to check out Holly Bowling. I purchased a couple of her albums on Bandcamp and had the foresight to download them. So, at that point on a trip when radio stations and cell signal fades and I usually put on a good audiobook. I instead put on Holly Bowlings album Seeking All That’s Still Unsung. This album is a collection of classic Grateful Dead songs arranged for solo Piano. Holly is a classically trained pianist from San Francisco that has brought the jam band vibe of Phish and The Grateful Dead to her instrument, the solo piano.

While I certainly appreciate the Grateful Dead’s music a lot of their songs didn’t really do anything for me as songs. I guess for a lot of them they just seemed like a foundation for a long extended jam and the song just sort of disappeared into wall of sound that is the Grateful Dead. Well, arranged for solo piano their songs take on a very different sound and really stand as classic songs. The sound stage of this album of a solo piano that is closely mic’d really makes you sit up and notice the songs for their musicality. It was a bit off at first hearing these songs in this way but I soon got used to it and quite enjoyed this album as I headed up into the mountains for a weekend of camping. There is quite a collection of music that she has on Bandcamp that in an odd way captures the jam band vibe of the Grateful Dead but with a classical piano sound to it. Try it, I am sure you will like it.