1/30/10 Holly Graham and the Folk Floozies, Traditions Cafe, Olympia
“Graham
just took this night by storm with tons of supporting folks, many from
the community activist gang, and just lovers of what Holly has done for
years. She got underneath the songs, came from inside herself and the words
of the song and made a most memorable night. Her humor abounds, her caring
for the human condition is in every thought and word, the lyrics are clear
and warm, and the pacing and stories were exquisite. Holly quoted text,
made theatrical moves, became a kid. You were just moved from space to
space all nailed down in the Holly atmosphere. She sang of ‘Ghostly Forests’
and the sense of land loss, of the missing dad in ‘Daddy Sang the Blues’.
Holly delivered a song she worked out with Joe Baque, ‘Wishing Star Waltz’,
that her vocals just moved out over the audience. She got inside and nailed
‘God Bless the Child’, the Billie Holiday song. ‘Tear Down the Walls’ got
us all involved and she did well even with her tuning jokes. (They became
part of the humor, like it was on purpose.) She was a theatrical delight
on many tunes like ‘Power’ and I was very taken with her delivery on ‘Wolves
of London’. She loved up the plaintive Sting song, ‘Children’s Crusade’.
‘Love Will Lead Us’ is her own song, set up to bring out her work beliefs
and ideals, then she softened with the standard ‘Smile’. We all sang this
sweet Chaplin song, then got rowdy with ‘Love Potion #9’. A stunning musical
conversation with a woman at the top of her game this night. And her bass
and piano cohorts, Lorree Gardener and Becky Liebman, were just right.
So what to do for an encore? Bob Marley’s ‘One Love’,
in one great musical love-for-life fest.”
Chris Lunn, Dropping in On..., Victory Music Review, Spring 2010