“heady, layered improv-rock excursions distilled into crystalline solo piano pieces” – Rolling Stone
Solo pianist Holly Bowling is an artist who repeatedly defies convention, breaks ceilings, and eludes simplistic labels. Here, she does this while bringing virtuosic playing, emotional immersion, and a thirst for invention to everything that she does. She’s been acclaimed by Rolling Stone and has jammed with a long list of impressive company. This includes Bob Weir, Jim James, Warren Haynes, John Scofield, Branford Marsalis, and many more. Moreover, Holly has established herself as a virtuoso pianist with her own musical voice.
Holly has fostered a strong sense of identity while musically shapeshifting to the task at hand. She’s gone from joining Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh for extended explorations of “Dark Star,” to recording dance tracks with LP Giobbi. She is a frequent guest of Greensky Bluegrass. With them, she recorded 2023’s The Iceland Sessions EP, and appeared 2022’s Stress Dreams. Her solo piano arrangements span across genres, featuring songs from The National and Nine Inch Nails to Phish and the Grateful Dead. Additionally, they have been featured in several independent films, and led to performances from Carnegie Hall to Red Rocks.
Holly arrived as an exciting outlier on 2015’s Distillation Of A Dream: The Music Of Phish Reimagined For Solo Piano. Then, 2016’s Better Left Unsung, featuring the music of the Grateful Dead, landed in Billboard’s Top 25 Classical Albums.
During the pandemic, Holly toured national parks, recording audience-less performances against the backdrop of some of America’s most breathtaking landscapes. As she does with her live-audience performances, Holly played to the room.
Bowling reimagined more Grateful Dead staples on 2020’s Seeking All That’s Still Unsung. Holly looks to flip the script once more with an upcoming album of original compositions.
Recommended for fans of Phish, The Grateful Dead, Greensky Bluegrass and The National.
