"Music has always affected the way people live their life, example - in the mining camp days, you would go to the saloon after work, and the piano player would be relating all the news from the last mining camp, it used to be the heart of information as they were the only ones traveling from town to town to spread that information. As far as my music goes, I’d like to bring people together and make them feel and think about things they love and things they’ve lost."

Tony Holiday: Memphis Lightning

There’s something about Tony Holiday that draws people together. In fact, community has been at the core of Holiday’s young career from the beginning. Since relocating from Salt Lake City to Memphis in 2017, Holiday has been at the center of a soul blues revival in Memphis, anchored by a contingent of young, savvy well-schooled musicians with a “family-like” attitude and a strong belief in one another. Mentored by past legends, Holiday and this loose Memphis collective are building on the city’s rich traditions and carrying them forward. Tony Holiday announced that he will be releasing Motel Mississippi on April 14th via 40 Below Records. Motel Mississippi, Holiday’s 2nd solo album, was recorded in Coldwater, Mississippi, at Zebra Ranch, the studio of the late great Memphis legend Jim Dickinson.                      (Tony Holiday / Photo by Jamie Harmon)

Like with previous projects, Motel Mississippi began as a collaborative effort, this time between Holiday, guitarist/songwriter A.J. Fullerton and guitarist/producer Dave Gross who shared production duties with Fullerton. Rich sonic layers provide a forward-thinking quality to these productions, conjuring up a vibe that's modern and retro at the same time. Motel Mississippi follows 2020’s Soul Service, produced by another regular collaborator, Southern Avenue’s Ori Naftaly. This followed two volumes of Tony Holiday’s Porch Sessions (2021/Blue Heart), which saw Holiday traveling across the United States and throughout Europe recording blues musicians on their very own front porches, in front of juke joints, in the countryside, and even on the front stoops of raucous night spots in bustling cities, resulting in two critically acclaimed albums. The guestlist struck a balance between older legends like Charlie Musselwhite and Bobby Rush, former Muddy Waters guitarist John Primer and the iconic Lurie Bell, alongside some of Holiday’s peers Southern Avenue, Victor Wainwright, and John Németh. The latter two have served as important mentors for Holiday since his move to Memphis. There’s something in the water in Memphis, and Tony Holiday has tapped into it to contribute to an exciting new chapter unfolding in this storied region.

Interview by Michael Limnios                 Special Thanks:  Pati deVries (Devious Planet)

How has the Soul and Blues music influenced your views of the world and the journeys you’ve taken?

Blues and Soul music have had a huge impact on my life, as it’s taken me all over the world. As far as my view on the world, blues music has shown me that the suffering that music comes from, can actually take your sorrows and worries away and allow light within a very dark place.

How do you describe your sound, music philosophy and songbook? Where does your creative drive come from?

I wouldn't describe it. It has been described by others as “Hill county with a step of Memphis lightning”. My creativity comes from being inspired by Memphis music and local Memphis musicians, philosophies of life, and the daily analogies we find ourselves in.

What touched you from the sound of harmonica? What's the balance in music between technique and soul?

Little Walter was huge for me, when I heard the song “Mellow Down Easy,” Walter made the harmonica sound like a saxophone of sorts, and I was hooked.  The balance between technique and soul …in my opinion, you have to have soul to feel this music and technique is the tool to expand your vocabulary within that expression.

"Blues & Soul music have had a huge impact on my life, as it’s taken me all over the world. As far as my view on the world, blues music has shown me that the suffering that music comes from, can actually take your sorrows and worries away and allow light within a very dark place." (Tony Holiday's 2nd album Motel Mississippi recorded in Coldwater, Mississippi, at Zebra Ranch  / Photo by Jamie Harmon)

How do you think that you have grown as an artist since you first started making music? What has remained the same about your music-making process?

The move to Memphis Tennessee five years ago, has really helped me grow as a songwriter, and an overall entertainer. I think I have grown in general, since I first started in many ways as music is a developing journey that really never ends.  The one thing that has remained the same is where music and playing music takes me and how it makes me feel, some of my best friends are songs.

You've one new release with A.J. Fullerton, Dave Gross and 40 Below Records. How did that relationship come about?

First of all, I will say that everybody you’ve listed above I deeply respect AJ Fullerton and I have known each other for several years and is someone who I have crossed paths with a lot. Dave Gross and I met through Victor Wainwright on the blues cruise and an annual camping trip that we go on, we became really close friends. I remember asking him if he could play guitar on the record, and I brought it up to New Jersey to his studio, fat rabbit studios, and he ended up producing the record and making the record so special, taking it to a level I hadn’t really never imagined was possible.

Do you have any interesting stories about the making of the new album "Motel Mississippi", at Zebra Ranch?

I’ve recorded quite a bit down there in Coldwater Mississippi at the Zebra Ranch. Every time I record there or over at Kevin Houston’s home studio there happens to always be a picture of Otha Turner staring at me with his captivating blue eyes when I’m recording…. For this that don’t know Otha, look him up.  Mississippi, fife playin’ legend.

"I wouldn't describe it. It has been described by others as “Hill county with a step of Memphis lightning”. My creativity comes from being inspired by Memphis music and local Memphis musicians, philosophies of life, and the daily analogies we find ourselves in." (Motel Mississippi began as a collaborative effort, this time between Holiday and A.J. Fullerton / Photo by Michael Donahue, Memphis Flyer)

What do you miss most nowadays from the music of the past? What are your hopes and fears for the future of?

One thing I miss most about the music from the past, although I was not there, my observation is that people were just having more fun doing it, you had to really work hard to be heard without social media platforms and I appreciate the work it took to get there. I hope that young people get into soul and blues music, and that the young artists within this genre can keep it alive.

What has been the hardest obstacle for you to overcome as a person and as artist and has this helped you become a better musician?

One of the harder things for as a person and as an artist is the social aspect of it all.  I am very much an introverted person and that is a common denominator in both musical and personal worlds. I love entertaining people and playing music, it’s getting off stage and interacting on a very high level,  to a lot of people, that is the obstacle for me.   At times it has really gotten me down because I love the people so much and I want nothing more than to talk with them. I normally wouldn’t come out and just say this, but I appreciate this question as I’m sure there was somebody out there that can relate. To tell you the truth, I don’t know how that has made me a better musician, but it inspires me to deliver the best show I can on stage.

What moment changed your music life the most? What´s been the highlights in your life and career so far?

It’s hard to say if it was the Sunday jams of my childhood with the Maxey family, the first time they invited me to play a festival,  the time I met Jordan Young and Talia Keys and started playing live music regularly for the first time ever or  the time I was working at a barbecue shop and  heard the sounds of John Nemeth for the first time and dropped everything to see who that was… sold my guitar that week and started playing harmonica and years later moved to Memphis… but above all, I would say it was taking long drives with my grandparents, listening to old country music and having that music paint big stories in my mind.

The highlights of my career have been many, but one to mention, was traveling around the USA, recording my friends and heroes on their front porches as part of my front porch series was a true highlight of my musical career and my life in general. To spend time with people like James Harman, Charlie Musselwhite on the front porches is something I’ll never forget.                         (Photo: Tony Holiday)

"The move to Memphis Tennessee five years ago, has really helped me grow as a songwriter, and an overall entertainer. I think I have grown in general, since I first started in many ways as music is a developing journey that really never ends.  The one thing that has remained the same is where music and playing music takes me and how it makes me feel, some of my best friends are songs."

How do you prepare for your recordings and performances to help you maintain both spiritual and musical stamina?

I like to get in a certain headspace anytime I am given the opportunity to record and play music. I personally like to get with the band before the show and sing, harmonies together, tighten them up and harmonies just make everybody feel so good.

What is the impact of music on the socio-cultural implications? How do you want the music to affect people?

Music has always affected the way people live their life, example - in the mining camp days, you would go to the saloon after work, and the piano player would be relating all the news from the last mining camp, it used to be the heart of information as they were the only ones traveling from town to town to spread that information. As far as my music goes, I’d like to bring people together and make them feel and think about things they love and things they’ve lost.

What are some of the most important lessons you have learned from your experience in the music paths?

I would say the biggest lesson I have learned in this industry is that you have to find your own voice, your own style, and once you do, just get out of your own Way.

Why do you think that the Memphis music scene continues to generate such a devoted following?

The Memphis music scene is King. Anytime I go down and play Beale Street. I am reminded of the people that built the culture there. It’s in the air and it’s in the water here in Memphis Tennessee. It will never go away.

Tony Holiday - Home

(Tony Holiday / Photo by Jamie Harmon)