- Album list
- Singer Intro
Holly Near (born June 6, 1949 in Ukiah, California) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, teacher, and activist.
Holly Near's professional career began in 1969 with a part on the television show The Mod Squad, which was followed by appearances in other shows, such as Room 222, All in the Family, and The Partridge Family. She also appeared in films such as Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, and Minnie and Moskowitz, and had a prominent role in the 1991 film Dogfight.
She was briefly a member of the musical comedy troupe, 'First National Nothing', and appeared on the troupe's only album, If You Sit Real Still and Hold My Hand, You Will Hear Absolutely Nothing (Columbia Records – LP C 30006).
In 1970, Near was a cast member of the Broadway musical Hair. Following the Kent State shootings in May of that year, the entire cast staged a silent vigil in protest. The song, 'It Could Have Been Me' (which was released on A Live Album, 1974), was her heartfelt response to the shootings. In 1971, she joined the FTA (Free The Army) Tour, an anti-Vietnam War road show of music, comedy, and plays, organized by antiwar activist Fred Gardner and actors Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.
In 1972, Near founded an independent record label called Redwood Records to produce and promote music by 'politically conscious artists from around the world'. She was one of the first women to found an independent record company. Near's record company went out of business in the mid-1990s due to financial difficulties.
During her long career in folk and protest music, Holly Near has worked with a wide array of musicians, including Ronnie Gilbert, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Mercedes Sosa, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Meg (Shambhavi) Christian, Cris Williamson, Linda Tillery, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Harry Belafonte, and many others, as well as the Chilean exile group Inti-Illimani. Holly Near has been recognized many times for her work for social change, including honors from the ACLU, the National Lawyers Guild, the National Organization for Women, NARAS, Ms. Magazine (Woman of the Year), and the Legends of Women's Music Award.
Near wrote an autobiography in the early nineties called Fire in the Rain, Singer in the Storm. Later, with her sister Timothy, Near co-wrote a one-woman show based on the stories in the book. The show was presented at The San Jose Rep and in Los Angeles at The Mark Taper Forum, as well as productions in San Francisco and off Broadway in NYC. In April 2004, Holly performed at the March for Women's Lives in Washington, DC where she sang 'We Are Gentle Angry People' and 'Fired Up' a capella. The following year, Near was named among the '1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize'. Near continues an active tour schedule and as of 2012 had a discography of 29 albums. She is still active as a performer and composer, and she has begun issuing CDs available through her website that include tracks from her out-of-print albums. Her song 'Singing For Our Lives' appears in Singing the Living Tradition, the official hymnal of the Unitarian Universalist Association, under the title 'We Are A Gentle, Angry People' (Hymn #170). The hymn was also performed by Quaker Friends in an episode of the TV series Six Feet Under. In 2015, the same song, credited as 'Singing For Our Lives' appeared in the Australian independent film The Lives We Lead, alongside its theme song 'I Am Willing', another rousing Near-penned protest song.
Holly Near was named as an Honoree for National Women's History Month for 2015.
Discography
Hang in There, Redwood Records (1973) (Theme: support of the people of Vietnam)
A Live Album, Redwood Records (1975)
You Can Know All I AM, Redwood Records (1976)
Imagine My Surprise, Redwood Records (1978) (with Meg Christian)
Fire in the Rain, Redwood Records (1981) produced by June Millington
Speed of Light, Redwood Records (1982)
Journeys, Redwood Records (1983)
Lifeline, Redwood Records (1983) (with Ronnie Gilbert)
Watch Out!, Redwood Records (1984) (with John McCutcheon and Trapezoid)
Sing to Me the Dream, Redwood Records (1984) (with Inti Illimani)
HARP, Redwood Records (1985) (with Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert and Arlo Guthrie)
Singing With You, Redwood Records (1987) (with Ronnie Gilbert)
Don't Hold Back, Redwood Records (1987)
Sky Dances, Redwood Records (1989)
Singer in the Storm, Chameleon Music Group (1990) (with Ronnie Gilbert)
Musical Highlights, Redwood Records/Calico tracks Music (1993) (from the play Fire in the Rain written by Holly Near & Timothy Near)
This Train Still Runs, Abbe Alice Music (1996) (with Ronnie Gilbert)
With a Song in My Heart, Calico Tracks Music (1997) (songs from the 30s & 40s)
Edge, Calico Tracks Music (2000)
Cris & Holly, HC Recordings (2003) (with Cris Williamson, pianist John Bucchino)
Show Up, Calico Tracks Music (2006)
Sing to Me the Dream, Calico Tracks Music (2008) (an historic live recording of the 1984 Peace in the Americas Tour with Inti Illimani)
We Came to Sing, Calico Tracks Music (2009) (with emma's revolution)
Peace Becomes You, Calico Tracks Music (2012)
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