Tara Holloway Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 15th 2010 4:15PM by Christopher Engelhardt
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Canadian singer-guitarist Tara Holloway first started performing at the age of 14 and hasn't stopped since. The still unsigned Holloway's music -- a mix of blues, punk and folk rock combined with her raspy, raw and soulful vocals -- has been featured on the TV series 'Sons of Anarchy.' Her debut EP, 'Sins to Confess,' will be released in April by Paper Boat Music. Spinner recently spoke with Holloway before her upcoming performance at this year's SXSW Music Festival.

Describe your sound in your own words.

Whenever anyone asks me that, I usually don't have an answer. I can spell back what other people have said about me, but I don't really know. I have so many different influences, it's hard to say. I find on the record from one song to the next, some different genres in there. It's one of the hardest questions to answer.

When did you first start singing, and when did you pick up the guitar?

I don't even know when. I can't even remember, because I've always loved, loved, loved to sing. And then my first time on stage was 14. And I didn't think, although being as a kid, that I even cared to play an instrument. I picked up the violin when I was 7, and I played that for a year or two. Then it just hit me, and when I was 14 I started playing the guitar.

How'd you begin your career as a solo performer?

There was an ad in the paper for a local talent competition. I was 14 years old. It was a local fair in Ottawa, Canada. That was my first time onstage. I just kept trying to be onstage. [Now,] I actually pick up bands in cities just for shows to back me up. I'm a record collector, so I have a lot of musical influences from my father.

Speaking of which, what are your musical influences?

There are so many. The blues are a big influence on me. I love bluegrass and country, as well. I really like modern alternative music. My first major musical influence was Robbie Robertson. That was my first number one. As a little girl, I was visiting my dad for the summer and stole his audiocassette and brought it back home with me for the rest of my life. I love Robbie Robertson, and I think to this day, he's one of my all-time favorites, for sure. As I got older, I started listening to my dad's vinyl collection, and when I was 16, I got really into the blues. Listening to it, singing with it. I don't play the blues on guitar. But it's definitely an influence on me, for sure.

What's your biggest vice?

I gotta say it, booze. Being a live musician, that is definitely the most helpful vice.

What's in your festival survival kit?

Natural body products. That really helps me when I'm on the road because I feel very at home wherever I am because of the sense and feelings. So I bring a lot of soap and spritzers and creams. They're all from my friend's actual company in Vancouver, Canada. That is a huge thing with my survival, for sure. Strange, but true.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Britney Spears: I love that latest record she made. I think she was getting more gritty and honest than she ever was before. I like the heavy darkness of it, actually.

Beatles or Stones?

Beatles. Easy. 'Cause I think the Stones are great, but there's only really a couple of songs that I love, love, love of the band. Where the Beatles, I just can go through every album and say I love them all.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

I stay in Nelson, which is in the mountains in [British Columbia], and it's sort of an open house, a bit of a hippie situation. So, people are welcome to just come and stay there. And one night, there was just a party going on and everybody was on something, whether it be booze or acid or mushrooms, and there was just a long, long, long chain of people massaging each other.

Let's talk about your upcoming EP. What makes the music on 'Sins to Confess' different from everything else that's in the music world right now?

What makes it different is every song is totally, truly my life. I can't really write any other way, even when I'm writing with other people. It's quirky, let's say that. It's quirky compared to a lot of other music that's out there. Lyrically, there's some surprising moments, for sure. And musically, it crosses a few different genres. It's quirky.

Christopher Engelhardt is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.