Holly & The Woods
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa | INDIE
Music
Press
HOLLY & THE WOODS return with three original members Craig Henning, Melissa Conradie & Gary Ashford, still on rhythm guitar, lead vocals and bass respectively, and two brand new members.
Saying goodbye in May 2010 to what was going to be the end of the Holly & The Woods, by the end of October 2010 three of the members realised that they couldn’t let a band such as HOLLY & THE WOODS go! During the break-up, everyone took on other projects and attempted to recreate the success and energy that made Holly & The Woods a great band, but nothing came close to what they had. Sadly, Chad Harbott could not rejoin on drums having landed an amazing opportunity touring as a session drummer.
It didn’t take long to find new members and by January 2011 the HOLLY & THE WOODS line-up was complete. Joining the band are Lee-Jaime Havenga on drums and Darren Drawbridge on lead guitar. Lee, the youngest in the band, is certainly no newcomer to the scene and also plays drums in local band Good By Cooper. Darren also comes from a colourful musical background and has performed with the likes of Jo Day and Concussion Girl.
Following the release of their debut album SO I RAGE in 2008, Holly & The Woods have had three top 10 singles on radio and racked up an impressive live performance CV, performing with the likes of Eagle-Eye Cherry, The Ataris, Sarah Bettens (from K’s Choice), Shaun Morgan from Seether, and hot local acts such as Prime Circle, Zebra & Giraffe, Van Coke Cartel, Heuwels Fantasties, Ef-El and many more! The band also continues their long standing reputation as one of SA’s only female fronted hard rock bands!
Taking 2011 on with a refreshed energy, a new single in August and the 2nd album due early 2012, there’s no keeping Holly & The Woods quiet this time around. - MUSE online
Discography
SO I RAGE - Debut Album:
1. GET OUT
2. LAY ME (DOWN)
3. SAVE ME
4. NOT LIKE ME
5. SO I RAGE
6. I LIKE IT
7. ENTER HEAVEN
8. HEAVEN IS YOUR HELL
9. DUMB (SUPERSTAR)
10. WANDERING SOULS
11. FALLING
12. MY HEAD
13. FREE
14. SO I RAGE
gently (acoustic version)
Photos
Bio
Ferocious songs with killer hooks and lyrics that swiftly snag you in all the right places is the defining feature of the debut album from South African five-piece Holly and The Woods.
Titled So I Rage the album has been anticipated for some time by the groups growing fanbase whove been tracking the groups trajectory up the homegrown rock scene over the past few years. Its also marks the entrance into the South African record scene of a polished, powerful hard rock group whose songs and execution can sit happily alongside the best global releases in its genre.
Weve worked long and hard for this moment, and wanted our first album to really be something that we are proud of, vocalist and co-songwriter, Melissa Conradie reveals. Working towards that has entailed some serious time in rehearsal, a single-minded approach to the craft of songwriting, as much live work as they can get - and Matthew Fink.
Fink a member of Indie Rockers The Black Hotels is rapidly evolving into one of the countrys most forward-thinking rock producers with a deep and varied knowledge of the genre to draw on when it comes to fine-tuning a bands sound.
The instant I heard what Matt had done on The Sick Leaves album I knew that he would be the right producer for our band, Conradie says. Initially the band recorded Falling at B Sharp Studios in Gauteng some 4 years ago, but swiftly realised that they were not yet equipped to sit in the producers seat.
That time may come, Conradie says (giving a hint at the big and longterm plans she and the band have for Holly and The Woods), but we are really chuffed with what Matt has done with our sound. Hes done an amazing job.
That job has entailed allowing the propulsive forces that shape Holly and The Woods sonic terrain to stand alone, without (and this is important) taking over the songs. A great example of this is Lay Me Down which thrusts John Meakers lead guitar centrestage in a way that spotlights his clear talent while at the same time giving space to the rhythm guitar played by Holly and The Woods co-founding member, Craig Henning.
Indeed it was Conradies advert as a vocalist looking for a band on a local music website the saw the formation of Holly and The Woods (whose play-on-words band name is indicative of the jaundiced view Conradie and Henning have of contrived and manufactured entertainers). That was back in 2006 but it was to be just over 3 years ago (May 2007 to be specific) that the final line-up of the band was settled on. At one stage we had three guitarists it was admittedly a bit over-the-top, Henning says.
Joining the band in 2007 by Gary Ashford on bass and Chad Harbott (a teenage firebrand) on drums, Holly and The Woods spent most of 2007 & 2008 notching up an impressive slate of live performances, bringing their sprawling and no-holds-barred rock to stages alongside the likes of Sarah Bettens (from Ks Choice), Prime Circle, Wonderboom, Hellphones, Karma, Love Jones, Cassette, Veeva Feeva (Australian band), My Epic, Walt, Running With Scissors, Lonehill Estate, Voodoo Child and The Sick-Leaves. They also snagged a highly coveted support slot with Seethers Shaun Morgan late in 2007, an undisputed highlight of their live career that far.
Followers of the band from those first days will be happy to know that the album includes Save Me, the song that broke Holly and The Woods both live and on radio.
The song is possibly the best place to start for newcomers to Holly and The Woods coruscating but hugely accessible sound. It begins with the kind of crunching guitarwork that demands you listen before Conradies powerful vocals take centrestage, managing to channel the spirit of Skunk Anansies Skin while delivering a signature sound.
But there are plenty of other places to get your rock rocks off on So I Rage: the solar plexus-smashing Get Out, with its astutely placed backing vocals, is hard to resist and impossible to ignore and just when you think youve pinned Conradie and her crew down as hard rockers who dont let up the pace for an instant comes the lovely So I Rage Gently, a piano-propelled version of the albums anthemic title track and a cut that is more than a hint at the versatility Holly and The Woods is capable of.
Falling - the single that went Top 10 on Kovsie Fm and has been play-listed on stations such as Radio 2000, Tuks FM, MFM, UJ FM and UCT FM reveals yet another side to the five-piece: a slice of radio friendly rock, Falling nonetheless allows Holly and The Woods now trademark sound to leak through the melodic thrust of this standout track (its also the song that inspired the quite beautiful tattoo on Conradies arm).
Alongside these standout tracks, there is much more to love on So I Rage including the anthemic Free, and the evocative Wandering Souls.
That they have a fanbase waiting for their first album is something of a surprise to Holly and
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