“Every time that I go back to the Midwest to visit family I pick up things that I cannot put into words. It is those feelings, and that kind of awareness, that I wanted to put into something real. I think that the song, “Leaving Kansas,” encapsulates that more than anything. It (the CD) resonates of the American heartland. I knew that I wanted strings, I knew that I wanted harmonica, and I knew that I wanted an upright bass. I wanted an organic, live sound that needed to be fresh, and it needed to be honest, present and real. My first two albums were wonderfully produced, but I still sounded distant. I sounded a little lost in the mix of the guitars and all the other stuff,” says Long as she discusses the inspiration behind her CD Leaving Kansas.

Jim Brice’s violin and Holly Long’s gentle piano keys introduce us to the first track of Long’s new CD Leaving Kansas, a collection of songs that are filled with earthy word pictures that are brush stroked on the canvass of the American heartland.  Long, who was born in Lawrence Kansas, while her parents were attending university, grew up just outside of Chicago, but her family is deeply rooted in the state.

In what surely ranks as one of the most soulful and well-produced vocal tracks this year, the song “Simply,” resonates with both the grit and passion of life. “Simply,” and “Sunday Redemption,” are my foray into a musical area where I never allowed myself to go (before). I have always been moved by gospel music. I have been to gospel churches and seen the energy and the joy,” says Long.

Continuing to talk about “Simply,” and “Sunday Redemption,” Long says, “When I allowed myself to sing a little differently and open up my soul more, I discovered that I had a little bit more in there. I think that the reason those two songs sound so joyful is I had a cork in there for so long. I am finally able to let it hang a little bit. On stage, I do some cover songs that are more rock like, and I am able to just let go with this crazy vocal maneuvering. Now I have another tool in my toolbox, and I want to hone it and make it better. One of the songs that I sing live is a Billy Preston tune, “That’s The Way God Planned It.” It is a hardcore, big piano gospel song. It is a fun and joyful song that feels really good.”

Long believes that the album Leaving Kansas is her most personal and vulnerable recording to date. “Songs like “Homeward Bound,” “Leaving Kansas,” “Brokedown,” “Softer Now,” “He and I,” “Trust Me,” are songs from way, way down. “He And I,” tries to encapsulate the feelings of connection with my son. It has melancholy in it, but it doesn’t really have sadness or grief. There are also songs like, “Bones,” which is about me trying to grapple with the truth of our existence, about death, what is eternal and what is not. Some of the songs were harder to write. They (represent) different pieces of my vulnerability. The record as a whole feels more vulnerable. This is what I have wanted to do as a writer. I felt this was where I needed to go. I am thirty-seven, so it is no longer about one love song after another. I am someone who is a parent, and who has had a brush with death. I have (experienced) grief, loss and pain. I felt like I owed it to myself, and to anyone who would listen to me, to write about what I am actually experiencing and what I am going through. Writing another pop song or a love song has its merit, but it would be frustrating for me to just sit on that level alone. I just wanted to keep going deeper.”

Leaving Kansas also represents a maturing in the overall sound of Holly Long’s music and songwriting. “My first record was really me trying to figure out how to make a record. It sounded pretty good, considering I didn’t have any idea what I was doing. I can look back now and say, I should have written that one a little differently, edited it differently or cut that one. Interestingly enough, the sound of the first record was pretty cohesive. The second record was even more of a mish mash, as I explored different areas of my writing. My producer was really great. He tried to create an umbrella that incorporated all of those songs. The songs all sounded good together, but I (still) felt it was me mucking around, trying to figure out what my sound was. Leaving Kansas is the first record that I have made, which I think sounds much more cohesive,” she says.

Eight years ago Long picked up a guitar and began learning the instrument. Previously all of her material had been written from the perspective of a pianist. She felt the need to explore different sounds, chord progressions, octaves and rhythms. The songwriter felt that she was stagnating, and learning to write from the perspective of a guitarist provided new inspiration.  

“There are a lot of different sounds to my songs. If you were to go on I-Tunes and listen to my the songs from City Girl and Every Little Thing, you will be quite surprised in the difference between the sound on those songs and the collection that is on Leaving Kansas,”  says Long.

Holly Long has penned some great tunes for Leaving Kansas and producer Anthony J.W. Benson did an outstanding job, however, the many colors and moods of the album would not be communicated as vividly were it not for an outstanding supporting cast. The talented musicians and background vocalists present the music in a way that is real and allows the listener to take a walk around inside the soundscape, breathing in the raw emotion, the sweat and the angst.

“There is an array of background singers and they are all stellar. Every one of them is amazing, and they are wonderful women too. I had four backup singers, Pamela (McNeill) and Mary Jane (Alm) were the first two, and Alison (Scott) and Jennifer (Grimm) were the second two. They are all singers and songwriters in their own right too. Jennifer Grimm really blew my mind. I am a good singer, but she is in that upper echelon of one percent of the people who can sing. She can do anything,” says Long in dishing out the praise.

Everything went great on the first day of recording, as instrumental tracks and scratch vocals were laid down, but, “The next day I lost my voice. It was gone, like laryngitis gone. For the remainder of the time I was in Minneapolis (at the studio), I could not sing. The scratch vocals had to become the real vocals. Luckily, I had done enough takes that we had one that was either good enough (or only required) a tweak here or there. Those were the songs, “Homeward Bound,” “Moans,” and “Pain And Glory.” There were places where Jennifer had to take over for me, because I couldn’t record. There are places where you hear quite a few background vocals on some of the songs, and that was never intended. It was always our intention to have background vocals, but not to that extent. She really saved me. Alison was wonderful as well, but she had a lot of stuff going on, so Jennifer came in and just wailed. Listening to Jennifer’s vocals on those songs is a treat for me, and at times, it feels like a duet. Her voice is unbelievable. We were all like, who is this girl, and why is she not a huge star.”

Not to ignore the contributions of the other musicians, but more as a response to my specific questions, Long talks about the efforts of harmonica player George Faber and Peter Schimke, who played piano, Hammond B3, Wurlitzer and the Fender Rhodes, for Leaving Kansas.  “On “Sunday Redemption,” George has this anti solo, where he takes it way down. I am a big fan of that moment. On “Sunday Redemption,” I like the fact that he just sat on the solo and brings a reverence to the moment. It really is mesmerizing to hear him do so, when you know that he could have blown all over the place, but he chose not to. There are moments where I go ya’ that is a great musician.”

In reference to Schimke, Long says, “He is brilliant and has magnificent chops. He will stop in the middle of a recording and say that he has to go back and do it again, when nobody else can hear a mistake. He is so great, and yet he is such a perfectionist.”

Where will Leaving Kansas likely find a home? Long says, “I think the people who are Holly Long fans, and get it, are people who spend more time inside themselves. They get it and they can hear what I am doing. It is so exciting for me, and so satisfying for me, to meet people who truly connect. It makes all the hardships that come with this kind of a career, worthwhile. To meet someone who doesn’t know me at all (apart from my music), but who get a deep, core part of me, because they hear it in my songs, that really excites me. Most people who get my music tend to be my age or a little older, people who have been through things in their lives.”

Interview by Joe Montague for Riveting Riffs (www.rivetingriffs.com) ©

May 2008

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