Friends of Bob   live music co-op Newsletter April 2010

The Holmes Brothers! Need we say more? We will. We end a terrific FoB season by presenting a powerhouse show with a trio broadly recognized as bona fide American musical masters. There is no other band that sounds quite like them.

As it says in their biography at the terrific allmusic.com website: “The Holmes Brothers' unique synthesis of gospel-inflected R&B harmonies, accompanied by good drumming and rhythm-based guitar playing, gives them a down-home rural feeling that no other touring roots music group can duplicate.”  The band blends Saturday night’s roadhouse rock with the gospel fervor and harmonies of Sunday morning’s church service.

A few weeks ago their new album Feed My Soul was released and shot immediately to #1 in the blues charts.

Over the course of their 30-plus year career, The Holmes Brothers—bassist/vocalist Sherman Holmes, guitarist/pianist/vocalist Wendell Holmes, drummer/vocalist and brother-in-spirit Popsy Dixon—have been feeding the souls of their devoted and ever-growing fanbase with a joyous and moving blend of blues, gospel, soul, R&B, rock ‘n’ roll and country. Their amazing three-part harmony singing, mixing Wendell’s gruff and gravelly vocals with Popsy’s soaring falsetto and Sherman’s rich baritone brings the soul and spirit of gospel music into everything they perform. Equally gripping is the rhythmic foundation laid down by Sherman’s bass playing and Popsy’s drumming, perfectly complementing Wendell’s blues-soaked guitar solos and church-inspired piano playing.

Raised in Harlem and at first a celebrated part of NYC’s local scene, the band soon gained national recognition and have toured relentlessly ever since.

www.theholmesbrothers.com

www.myspace.com/theholmesbrothers

www.friends-of-bob.org

Saturday, May 8   8:00 showtime
Lafayette Brewing Co.

The Holmes Brothers

$13 advance/$16 day of show
at Von's Records,  JL Records, McGuire Music,
and Lafayette Brewing Company

Advance tickets by mail are $14. Send your check to:
Friends of Bob, PO Box 59, Battle Ground, IN 47920
Please provide your name, address, phone #, and e-mail address

FoB Annual General Meeting: We will have our annual general meeting on Monday, May 3rd at 7:30 at the Lafayette Brewing Company; we meet at the back of the ground floor—by the brew kettles. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend. However, one of the things that will happen is we’ll vote to elect 3 members of our board of directors; you must be a FoB member to be able to vote in the election.

Also at this meeting we compile our wish list of artists we’d like to present next season.

Big talent in small venues for early evening shows at affordable prices are some of FoB’s key features. An all-volunteer organization in which no one gets paid and everybody buys a ticket are more. However, it would be impossible to bring the rich array of talent we present if it weren’t for the dues and donations that FoB’s members contribute. The following folks have sent in their dues since our last newsletter; please follow their fine example:

Diana Battiste
George Bodner
Paul & Mary Bower
Jane Wolf Brown
Stacey Burr
Kenn Clark
France Cordova
Vern Dahlstrom
Charles Eades
Tama Eckert
Verna Emery
Jill Evans
Chris Foster
Tom Gall
Carlos Gamirazio
Megan Greene
Sharon Grimble
Ann Hunt
Ted Johnson
Greg Jones
Todd Leininger
Marilyn Jo Martin
Garry Mervis
Brenda Moore
Mike Murr and Pam Buroff-Murr
KJ Nutt
Joe & Dai Peters
William Peters
Tom Roberts
Jeff & Ronda Schwab
Jim & Pam Schweitzer
Rita & Larry Smeyak
John Spigle
Linda Swihart
Dena & Harry Targ
Wally & Jean Tyner
Rick Westerman
Larry & JoAnn Wilcrout

The Holmes Brothers have seemingly done it all. Recently though, The Holmes Brothers confronted a stark reality when Wendell was diagnosed with cancer in 2008. Tight-knit on and off the stage, they found strength in their family, friendship and faith to overcome this setback. With Wendell’s victory over the disease, the group emerged fully energized and inspired, to create the deepest, most original, most satisfying album of their career. Their brand new CD, Feed My Soul, produced by their longtime friend and collaborator Joan Osborne, is an album born from this harrowing experience. The songs deal with friendship, loyalty, family, aging, illness, as well as politics and the current state of the world, while still maintaining the patented Holmes Brothers sense of humor. Mostly though, the album is about triumphing over adversity, overcoming obstacles and, ultimately it is a declaration of the power and faith of a strong and devoted family.

         “Glorious, rootsy R&B, gospel, blues and country. Full of soul and surprises.”  USA TODAY

“The Holmes Brothers deliver magnificent old time, gospel-style R&B, and raw electric blues with unparalleled artistry and authenticity. Sherman’s bottomless baritone, Wendell’s classic soul singer’s wail and Popsy’s otherworldly falsetto do more than complement one another; on stage or in the recording studio, the three become like a mystical fourth entity, inexplicable yet sublime, a gift to the world of music.”    Chicago Tribune

" Richly soulful and as daring as ever, The Holmes Brothers remain a musical force unto themselves."  Billboard

"...Harlem grown soul with revival-tent ardor, finding God and grit by making the blues tradition sound like breaking news."            Rolling Stone, David Fricke

Billboard:             ALBUM: FEED MY SOUL (Alligator Records)  2010

On the Holmes Brothers' 2007 album, "State of Grace," Wendell Holmes sang about how a cancer diagnosis stopped him in his tracks -- but apparently not for long. The trio's 10th studio set, "Feed My Soul," sports a career-high nine originals and finds Wendell proudly declaring that "Living Well Is the Best Revenge." The 14-track album traverses the Holmes' usual blend of soul, gospel and blues with born-again vigor. Highlights include the rolling bass and chicken-scratch guitar on "Dark Cloud," the country western flavors of "Edge of the Ledge" and "Something Is Missing" (an unrecorded John Ellison composition) and the foot-stomping grit of "Rounding Third." With production by their good pal Joan Osborne (who helped with the group's 2001 breakthrough, "Speaking in Tongues), Wendell, Sherman and brother-in-spirit Popsy Dixon treat the Beatles' "I'll Be Back" to a rich, Four Tops-style arrangement. And the Brothers also showcase their beautifully earthy harmonies on the title track and the doo-wop styled "Pledging My Love."

Austin Chronicle:

review of State of Grace  2007:

No surprise that Willie Nelson, Van Morrison, and Peter Gabriel wanted to perform with NYC's Holmes Brothers. The trio – skinbeater/singer Popsy Dixon, low-end shepherd/vox Sherman Holmes, and strummer/ivory tickler/vocalist Wendell Holmes – is an out-and-out jukebox of African-American music. More proof on State of Grace, their 10th album since 1990: spirituals ("I've Just Seen the Rock of Ages"), blues ("Close the Door"), doo-wop ("Three Gray Walls"), and Creole ("Bad Moon Rising"). While accomplished composers, the threepiece knows a good song when they meet it, realizing works by John Fogerty, Cheap Trick, Hank Williams, Nick Lowe, George Jones, and Lyle Lovett. Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me" is a perfect example. The brethren version is a tender, harmony-fueled, torch song. The brothers also secure cameos by Joan Osborne, Levon Helm, and Rosanne Cash. Again, no surprise that State of Grace deposits another feather in the Holmes Brothers plume-heavy hat.

Louisville Courier-Journal:

     FEED MY SOUL (Alligator Records)  2010

Since they began recording in 1989, the three graybeards of the Holmes Brothers — guitarist Wendell Holmes, bassist Sherman Holmes and drummer Popsy Dixon — have served up a spirit-nourishing roots-music melting pot.

“Feed My Soul” offers more of this genre-defying amalgam. Originals such as Sherman's rhythm & blues/gospel mash-up “Dark Cloud” and Wendell's country-spiced “Living Well Is the Best Revenge” blend in with Holmes-ified takes on the Beatles' “I'll Be Back” and the oldie ballad “Pledging My Love.”

Like the band's three distinct voices — Wendell's gritty tenor sits between Sherman on the low end and Popsy on the high — the collection coalesces into a whole whose fusion of juke-joint rambunctiousness and churchy uplift remains undeniably transcendent.

“Timeless, deeply soulful and uplifting gospel-drenched blues, street corner doo-wop, ballads, R&B, country and funk.”                          New York Times

“...juke-joint vets with brazenly borderless view of American music…with a purity of heart and rapturous harmonizing, these brothers are righteous indeed.”  Entertainment Weekly