Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Super-creative, virtuoso pianist, Holly Bowling joins the show in the first-ever podcast recorded in The Green Room at Garcia’s Chicago. Holly shares the etiology of her genre-crossing and improvisational style in between her two incredible debut appearances at this spectacular venue - playing the music of Phish and The Grateful Dead on solo piano! The episode delves into Holly’s classical training, influences, and balancing the dual aspects of meticulous arrangement and spontaneous performance in her work, highlighting her diverse approaches to both solo and collaborative concerts.
Holly fondly recalls with the hosts her time learning under Phil Lesh at Terrapin Crossroads and the impact it had on her musical career and relationships. The conversation takes listeners behind the scenes of Holly’s musical endeavors during the pandemic, uniquely recording while immersed in spectacular national landscapes (The Wilderness Sessions), and how she cleverly lured GreenSky Bluegrass into her world. Holly also provides a glimpse into her personal life, including her experiences as a mother and the musical talent of her young son, Ryland.
HIGHLIGHTS
The whole point of playing music for other people is to connect emotionally. It’s the sameness of the human experience… we're all human doing this life thing together. My favorite shows I've ever attended are the ones where there is that kind of emotional range and depth, whether it's total joy and ecstasy to shows where I have wept in public.
HIGHLIGHTS
The whole point of playing music for other people is to connect emotionally. It’s the sameness of the human experience… we're all human doing this life thing together. My favorite shows I've ever attended are the ones where there is that kind of emotional range and depth, whether it's total joy and ecstasy to shows where I have wept in public.
-Holly Bowling on how she uses the piano to evoke the emotions and feelings of an audience, much in the same way Jerry Garcia did with his guitar.
I’m really excited about it. Everyone's like, “you're doing a solo piano show, a quiet listening thing at Cervantes?” I'm like, yes. It's going to be amazing. We’re gonna totally turn the expectations upside down. It’s also a party. My shows are a much more inward experience, so we’re going to drop a grand piano in there, put seats in, and transform it in a way that most people have never seen Cervantes.
-Holly Bowling on playing a show at the Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver on July 2, 2025, the night before Phish’s run in Boulder.
-Holly Bowling on playing a show at the Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver on July 2, 2025, the night before Phish’s run in Boulder.
LINKS
HOLLY BOWLING SUMMER SHOWS (2025)
June 30: Alpenglow Concert Series, Crested Butte, CO
July 2: Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, Denver, CO
July 2: Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, Denver, CO
MUSIC
Holly Bowling – The Wilderness Sessions, Live From The Salt Flats
Creators and Guests
Host
What is Tales from the Green Room?
Welcome to Tales from the Green Room - Backstage conversations from popular music venues around the country curated by Mount Tam Media.
Buckle up and listen in, as host Dennis Strazulo and Mount Tam Media founder, Tami Larson, dig up conversations with artists - before and after shows - in the exclusive confines of the green room. Barriers are down with stories abound!
Tales from the Greenroom Special Edition (Sweetwater Music Hall's 50th Anniversary Series)
Mount Tam Media is thrilled to launch its Tales From the Green Room Podcast with a special series of episodes celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the iconic Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, California. The roster of artists that have crowded onto the club's little stages, first at the original Sweetwater location two blocks away, and now at the new location which opened in 2013, reads like a Who's Who of roots & rock music: Bob Weir, Aaron Neville, Big Mama Thornton, Carlos Santana, Elvis Costello, Etta James, Greg Allman, Van Morrison… the list of musical luminaries is endless. In the 80's, the Times of London hailed Sweetwater as one of the best nightclubs in America and the legacy continues! Mount Tam Media has been granted special access to Sweetwater’s green room during the venue’s 50th anniversary year to interview musicians, photographers, managers and the like, and capture their favorite moments and memories, preserving the untold secrets of what has graced these hallowed walls for half a century, before they are lost forever.