Jodie Holland at the Raccoon Motel -- September 27.
Friday, September 27, 7 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
Currently touring in support of her 2023 album Haunted Mountain, a work that Twittering Machines calls "a wonderful, rich, country/folk-inspired ramble of a record," singer/songwriter Jodie Holland performs a September 27 headlining engagement at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the artist's latest also leading Americana Highways to praise it as a work in which "graceful vocalizing expertly adds the necessary individualistic tone that's easy bait for any ear."
As stated at AllMusic, "Jolie Holland grew up in Texas, where from a young age she experimented with writing, playing, and singing music. By her teens, she had learned piano, guitar, and fiddle, and was performing as a traveling musician. San Francisco was home for a time in the mid-'90s before Holland was on her horse again, ambling to Vancouver and founding the neo-traditionalist folk outfit Be Good Tanyas. She contributed to the Tanyas' Blue Horse LP (Nettwerk, 2001) before moving back to San Francisco. There a series of solo demo recordings started making the rounds. Stark yet filled with imagery, Holland's work was folk in an American, Texas tradition, but accessed the fractured hope and gathered darkness of the country's past in beautiful and affecting new ways. The buzz surrounding the demos grew and grew, with national mags lining up with applause and Tom Waits nominating Holland for the esteemed Shortlist music prize. All of this led to Anti's signing Holland in August 2003; that November, the recordings were officially issued as Catalpa.
"In April 2004, Holland returned with her actual studio debut. Entitled Escondida, the LP was a skillful blend of blues, folk, gospel, and musky vocal jazz, and immediately established Holland as one of the nation's most important young songwriters. It was followed in 2006 by the equally impressive Springtime Can Kill You. The Living and the Dead appeared in 2008. Holland toured extensively and collaborated on other artists' recordings for the next couple of years. She also relocated to New Orleans. She and co-producer Shahzad Ismaily recorded her next effort, Pint of Blood both in New York and in her home studio and other intimate spaces. It's credited to the quartet Jolie Holland & the Grand Chandeliers, whose other members included Ismaily, guitarist Marc Ribot, and Grey Gersten. The set featured nine new originals and a cover of Townes Van Zandt's 'Rex's Blues' as its closer. Pint of Blood was released by Anti in June of 2011.
"After a three-year hiatus, she announced details of her fifth studio album, the sprawling and clanging, Tom Waits-ian Wine Dark Sea, which was released via Anti in May 2014. In 2017, Holland reunited with her former Be Good Tanyas bandmate Samantha Parton for the LP Wildflower Blues, which featured a powerful cover of Townes Van Zandt's 'You Are Not Needed Now.' In 2023, Holland teamed up with Big Thief's Buck Meek on the evocative Haunted Mountain, which paired ethereal sonic atmospherics with lyrics rooted in discord and provocation. Meek recorded his own version of the title track, which appeared on his 2023 release, also titled Haunted Mountain."
Jodie Holland performs her headlining engagement in Davenport on September 27 with an additional set by the Heligoats, admission to the 7 p.m. concert is $19.84, and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
