Holly Amgren: The “Dare to Feel It All” Interview

With her latest CD, “Daring to Feel Everything”, Holly Almgren masterfully shares and evokes reflections, life experiences and emotions in a rhythmic and fun way. The unforgettable collection of clues she has put together is unprecedented. Critics say the songs are rhythmic, the lyrics matter, and the melodies endure, so the early rave reviews from listeners come as no surprise. Holly’s previous experiences in her life prepared her for the success and creative expression that she enjoys today. Recently, I spoke with Holly. We talked about her genesis, her love and passion for music and of course her latest release, “Daring to Feel Everything”.

F. Briggs: Good morning Holly. Thanks for meeting me. And congratulations on your new album, Daring to Feel Everything.

Holly Almgren: Thank you very much for having me, Fran. It’s exciting to be able to talk about this project to a wider audience.

F. Briggs: You’re very welcome. Could you share with us about your background?

Holly Almgren: He played the guitar, blood, wrote poetry since he was 10 years old. She used to sit me in the trees and sing… imagining a crowd of people gathered to listen to me. My dad was a musician and he exposed me to jazz and bossa nova, he became interested in what he was playing and listening to. I started acting and writing music when I was 20 years old, although I had stage fright and felt more comfortable composing and singing in the studio than in front of an audience. I made my first album of original songs during that time. It was arranged and produced by pianist/songwriter Kit Walker in Boston, with Stan Strickland again on reeds.

I have been writing songs for over 30 years. Growing up, my family listened to a wide range of music, from (Burt) Bacharach and Jobim, to the great jazz singers like Ella, Sarah, Nina, Billie, Nat, Johnny Hodges; Sample tunes from West Side Story, The King & I, The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell and Bonnie Raitt. As a teenager I also got into blues, soul and motown: BB King, Otis Spann, Taj Mahal, Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire, Sly & the Family Stone, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke. My eclectic musical tastes influence my songwriting. At 30 I moved to New York hoping to write music for movies and jingles, but the cost of living made me go back to being a chef.

I moved back to Boston in my 40s to get married and have a child, and my songwriting began to accelerate. I went back to acting here and there, and was planning a CD five years ago when my father was dying and my mother needed help taking care of him. He always said do what you love because you spend too much of your life working not to love it. I knew it was time to take my music to the next level. We didn’t know it, but my mom had cancer. She died two years later. As if that wasn’t enough confusion, my husband fell in love with someone else and our marriage fell apart. Painful, but good song fodder, and it prompted me to try it with my songs. (In) January 2010, a mutual friend suggested that he hire JD Steele to produce my CD. We hit it off, we liked each other’s music, we agreed to do the project and we started recording that March in Minneapolis, with a fantastic rhythm section that included his brother Billy Steele (Sounds of Blackness) on piano. We finish at the end of summer.

F. Briggs: If you had to check Dare to feel it all In a few sentences, what would you say?

Holly Almgren: 13 of the 14 songs were written by me. so satisfied It was the first song JD and I wrote together, finishing it on the plane for our last session. She produced and arranged the vocal harmonies, as well as singing backing vocals with Maria Benson. The CD is autobiographical, the product of a lot of improvisation between the musicians (who often play together), guided by JD and my sense of the rhythm we wanted. The songs are rhythmic, the lyrics matter, the melodies endure, so I’m told. Sometimes I call my style buddhist jazz-funk, but there are always exceptions when you’re trying to pin down your sound. I like that. Diversity in all things makes life more meaningful.

F. Briggs: One of your songs is titled, Nobody Eats Us. Could you explain how the title was conceived and what the lyrics convey?

Holly Almgren: Love nobody eats us because it’s deep, it’s shocking and it takes people by surprise. He felt such despair and righteous anger at the human race: what we are doing to each other, to animals, and to the planet. She was learning about predator/prey balance. My mother had just died of cancer, which is where your cells eat each other. The more fun and upbeat the song is, the heavier I make the lyrics and music, otherwise it’s too dark. The song talks about us being at the top of the food chain, wasting and killing everything, including ourselves. We haven’t had a predator since the dinosaurs and we have become so unaware and arrogant. AIDS, cancer and diabetes are widespread, not to mention obesity.

People have lost the capacity for satiety, have become addicted to gorging even though it is killing them, and they are teaching the habit to their children.(We eat and eat and eat, we eat ourselves!). But, I love people and being human. I practice vipassana, a style of Buddhist meditation. The core of the teaching is about cultivating loving-kindness with ourselves and others as we aspire to end the suffering of all sentient beings. As a mom who reads a lot of Dr. Seuss to my son, I laugh every time I sing Nobody eats us! We are not green eggs and ham.

F. Briggs: Thanks so much for taking the time to share today, Holly. I certainly enjoyed my time with you.

Holly Almgren: It was a pleasure, Frank. Thank you! It was fun. Daring to Feel Everything is available to try or purchase at http://cdbaby.com/Artist/HollyAlmgren.