Search - Holly Near :: Early Warnings

"Early Warnings" is a thematic and all-too-relevant collection of songs concerning war, human rights abuses and the spirit required to transcend these dysfunctions that were selected by the pioneering "women?s music" and political activist Holly Near from two of her previous albums, "Watch Out! (1984) and "Sky Dances" (1989). Both of those records were originally released on Holly?s own much-missed Redwood Records and have been unavailable for the last decade. "Early Warnings" contains nine songs from "Watch Out!" that are making their CD debut here, four songs from "Sky Dances," and the version of "Quiet Early Mornings" that Holly contributed to Appleseed?s award-winning 1998 release, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone: The Songs of Pete Seeger, Vol. 1." As Holly describes the contents of "Early Warnings," "Most of the songs were written in the 1980s. Reagan was president?Fear-based thinking and fundamentalism were on the rise. There were many early warnings?and the storms just keep on coming." The song "Watch Out" warns that "there?s the rumble of war in the air," pointing a finger at the Reagan administration?s militarism. The political "death machine" and the religious right wing are put on notice that "the meek are ready, armed with a loving hand," on "The Meek are Getting Ready." "War of the Flea" is also about the battle between the small and the mighty. Holly?s strong feminist beliefs are the basis of "She," which Holly calls "a mythological song about the rise of women in the face of oppression," "Step It Out Nancy," in which a woman rejects an arranged marriage, and "The Train Song," described by Holly as "the lament of a poor woman who can?t seem to get out of her situation of bad times and hard knocks." Not all of "Early Warning?s" songs, many of them Near originals, concern confrontation. "Sky Dances" is a Native American tribute to nature. "Couple of Friends" and "West Virginia Friend" are tranquil meditations on friendship, and "Sun Won?t Stop" is about Holly?s father. The CD ends on a hymnlike note with "Quiet Early Morning," reminding us "We can still have singing tomorrows." Holly?s warm, unafraid vocals are accompanied by world-renowned instrumentalist John McCutcheon (dulcimer, banjo, guitar), members of the chamber folk ensemble Trapezoid, New Age bassist Michael Manring and longtime Near associate John Bucchino on piano.