Raised in Chi-town and born into a musical family, singer/songwriter Holly Long needled her parents into piano lessons on her Great-Grandmother's upright Hamilton at age 7. As a young child she was exposed to the sounds of Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Elton John, Beethoven and the Beatles, sprinkled with daily doses of Free To Be You and Me via her Dad's HiFi stereo headphones. Diversely influenced, spent her youth and early adult years performing in various musicals, piano recitals and plays.
After high school, Holly moved to California to attend UCLA as a Theater Major. She suddenly found herself scribbling lyrics on bar napkins and call-sheets for various acting gigs in an attempt to bring voice to what Hollywood wasn't really supporting her growing creative force. Three demo recordings at Randy Alpert's SCREAM Studios, one indie record deal gone bust and countless local gigs later, Holly seemed to be just about ready to call herself a songwriter.
In late 1996, she was unexpectedly rushed to the hospital with what appeared to be an intense case of the Flu, but turned out to be the beginning of a two-year, life-changing odyssey. She fell into a coma and was diagnosed with Endocarditis, a severe heart infection that threw her body into massive trauma. After a week of unconsciousness, she was lucky enough to awake and begin a slow process of recovery. She lost her hair, lost function of all her muscles and had to learn to walk all over again.
This severe shock to the system galvanized Holly's musical focus. Her heart-felt honesty, feelings of longing and inspiration, and the drive to understand herself were the result of a literal broken heart, and ultimately became the seeds for her debut album, City Girl in 2000. Met with critical acclaim, Holly's debut CD was created alongside Clio-award-winning producer and arranger Chris Horvath.
In 2001, Holly again partnered with Horvath and released an EP entitled Six Sided Woman. This new recording along with City Girl garnered her 3rd place in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest of 2000 and an Honorable Mention in the 2001 USA Songwriting Contest.
Additionally, Holly's songs have received numerous feature film and TV placements including ABC's Miami Medical, NBC's Passions, the soundtracks for Warner Bros.' films Winning London and Our Lips are Sealed, and multiple CD compilations including Live On: Songs of Love, Hope and Inspiration (A benefit CD to aid the American Red Cross Relief efforts helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina and Rita) and Girls Night Out: Life & Love, that have graced the shelves of TARGET and other major retail outlets.
Holly is a proud mom of two children, a beautiful girl named Josephine and sweet boy, Truman, both of whom have since birth provided much of the inspiration for Holly's continued work over the past 8 years, including her second full-length project, Every Little Seam, released in 2004 and her highly acclaimed third full length album released in 2008, Leaving Kansas. This project was the first of Holly's albums guided by the musical direction of her manager and dear friend, Anthony J.W. Benson. For Leaving Kansas' new rootsy feel, Benson enlisted an experienced production team to help capture the emotion and intimacy that would best highlight Holly's beautiful voice and skillful songwriting.
With the new team in place, including renowned recording engineer Ian Terry (David Bowie, Diana Krall, Leonard Cohen) and mastering wiz Dominick Maita (Fall Out Boy, Jewel, Curtis Stigers), Leaving Kansas wowed the indie Americana scene. The album was well-reviewed in the UK's Maverick Magazine, More Magazine, Performing Songwriter's DIY section, as well as being highlighted on itunes, Napster, CMT.com and various indie blogs.
Holly's latest concoction is a 70's inspired soul album helmed again by Anthony J.W. Benson, entitled "Frequency." A new team of incredible musicians, plus some old faces, and the legendary Tom Tucker engineering (Prince, Lucinda Williams, Bonnie Raitt) are bringing results which arguably, reflect the best of Holly Long as a performer and songwriter to date.
Holly happily resides in Venice, CA with her husband and children and continues to wrangle the butterfly muse. Through therapy, yoga, and a little help from her friends, Holly performs with love and gratefulness.
Peace. Love. Music.
