This Is My Story
“I Wish That I Could Blow The Clouds Away“
I was immediately intrigued when Holy Hive’s laidback soul/folk groove randomly streamed through my Galaxy Buds the other day. Shortly after, singer and guitarist Paul Spring’s gorgeous falsetto took center stage. My initial thought was how this voice reminded me of Mayer Hawthorne’s falsetto. Being a huge Mayer Hawthorne fan the last 12 or so years, that’s some big praise from me. While this alone was enough for me to be hooked, the comparisons don’t stop there.
Most falsettos in the indie world immediately get compared to Justin Vernon, but that would be a disservice to both artists. There is something different and uniquely special about Spring’s voice. The more I listened to their recently released debut album Float Back To You, the more I picked up on similarities to some of my other favorite singers --Taylor Goldsmith from Dawes and Matthew Iwanusa from Caveman to name a couple. These comparisons are not only in sound, but in nuance and style as well.
I shared Holy Hive with Travis and he picked up on a striking similarity with Aaron Frazer, the drummer and a key vocalist from Durand Jones & The Indications. This comparison is spot on, and you can see for yourself in the piece that Travis recently wrote about Frazer and Jones: Old Soul, New Groove.
The more I learned about their background, the more their mesmerizing grooves made sense.
Holy Hive’s core trio consists of Spring, drummer Homer Steinweiss, and bassist Joe Harrison. Steinweiss has drummed with Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, The Arcs, Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars, etc. Harrison has also played previously with the likes of Charles Bradley. While Springs is the folk-driven heart of Holy Hive, Steinweiss and Harrison bring the soul.
My absolute favorite aspect of their story is how Spring and Steinweiss met back in 2005. It was on a weekend retreat to a farm in Minnesota, through their respective girlfriends who happened to be cousins! A friendship was born that weekend and they eventually started playing gigs together. Harrison sat in on a few sessions and eventually joined the band full-time in 2015. Not long after, they were asked to join the legendary Lee Fields on tour. This is where the band discovered their soul/funk sound, and the rest was history.
In the following years, they released a handful of singles before dropping 2019’s Harping EP with Mary Lattimore. The whole EP is quite stellar and truly lays Holy Hive’s foundation for what was to come. The harps, the horns, the grooves, and that voice. That voice…
Float Back To You was released May 29th through Big Crown Records
Tune in, Tune out,
-Josh
Music video for the recent single “Broom“ from Float Back To You
A live rendition of the already beautiful “Oh I Miss Her So“ from Float Back To You
2019 single ”If I Could See You Now” (live)
Bonus Track - “Not For Nothing,“ my favorite track from the 2019 EP Harpring
