Tony Holiday
There are many young players on the current international blues scene and Tony Holiday is one that stands out amongst the finest! Tony Holiday, a Vocalist and Harmonica player hailing from Memphis TN has been recognized by peers such as Charlie Musselwhite and James Harman as a rising star in the community and Holiday included both, amongst many others, on his latest release of field recordings Tony Holiday’s Porch Sessions where Holiday and Partner Landon Stone have criss-crossed the country recording famous blues musicians and playing with them on their front porches, out with the Vizztone Label January 2019. Tony, on vocals and harp, brings out that old school voice that is sometimes missing from the Blues scene today. It harkens back to when the Blues were just finding their way in the new electric age. In that transition, the sounds that were coming out of the local independent record labels in Memphis and that you might of heard from the King Biscuit Hour in its later years or on one of the other many stations that spotted the value of the Blues. His passion and vocal strength with a soulman’s heart and wicked sense of impish humor blend to let you enjoy those deep blues and then chuckle when you might not otherwise have done so at the sometimes dark current of Blues. He has the ability to make you laugh in the face of pain so that you can take that next step by turning on your heel and walking into the light where he’s got a tune for you there for you to meet your next ex-wife on the dance floor and make some memories. With him on guitar is Landon Stone. Tall and lean with the brooding face of so many guitarists who have melded with the instrument, he places a perfect counterpoint to Tony’s harp. When the two play off of one another, well… frankly… you forget your damp and tired and hungry after a long rainy day of festival music, and you just have fun! Holiday fearlessly crosses the line between traditional Blues and Soul and modern day Americana with brilliant writing expressing Holiday’s poetic side, humor and touching on issues like Love, Heartache and Stories from Holiday’s traveling lifestyle. A combination of a family man and a road dog, Holiday finds the balance in his life as well as his music.Keeping a tight leash on his vocal control and harmonica tone Holiday has been named in the top 10 young harmonica players in the country via Rick Estrin and Blues Harmonica Player Forum. Tony Holiday’s Porch Sessions out with the Vizztone Label is reminiscent of Alan Lomax’s landmark field recordings and the live recordings that have surfaced from Chicago’s famed Maxwell St era.
