The Holmes Brothers
Encyclopedia
The Holmes Brothers are a vocal and instrumental trio originally from Christchurch, Virginia. Mixing sounds from blues
, soul
, gospel
, and rhythm & blues, they have released nine original albums, with two reaching the top 5 on the Billboard
Blues Albums chart. They have gained a following by playing regularly at summer folk, blues, gospel, and jazz festivals. They’ve recorded with Van Morrison
, Peter Gabriel
, Odetta
, Phoebe Snow
, Willie Nelson
, Rosanne Cash
, Levon Helm
and Joan Osborne
, and have gig
ged all over the world—including performing for President Bill Clinton
. They won the Blues Music Award from the Memphis
-based Blues Foundation
for Band of the Year in 2005 and for the Soul Blues Album of the Year in 2008. USA Today
calls The Holmes Brothers’ music "Rootsy R&B, gospel and country. They are glorious, full of soul and surprises." The New Yorker
says, “The Holmes Brothers are capable of awesome achievements.” National Public Radio adds, “Their voices are rough enough for a juke joint
and smooth enough for church.”
, Junior Parker
and B.B. King. They both sang in the church choir. Sherman studied clarinet and piano before taking up the bass, while Wendell learned trumpet, organ and guitar. Sherman studied composition and music theory at Virginia State University
, but in 1959, he dropped out and headed to New York for a job playing with a singer named Jimmy Jones
(of Handy Man fame). His younger brother Wendell joined him after completing high school. The two brothers played in a few bands before forming The Sevilles in 1963. The group lasted only three years, but they often backed up touring blues and soul
acts such as artists like The Impressions, John Lee Hooker
and Jerry Butler
, gaining experience. After The Sevilles disbanded, Sherman, Wendell and a fellow Virginian, drummer Popsy Dixon, continued to play in a variety of Top 40 bar bands. Wendell also toured with Inez and Charlie Foxx (Mockingbird) until 1979.
Sherman, Wendell, and Popsy convened in the form of a new group known as the Holmes Brothers in 1979. The three share vocals (some solo and some in gospel-inspired harmony), with Sherman playing bass, Wendell on guitar and piano, and Popsy on drums. The band frequently plays with additional musicians as well. The trio moved from their hometown of Christchurch, Virginia to Harlem where they regularly performed at blues clubs, most notably Dan Lynch's, a center of the local New York City blues scene. Here the Holmes Brothers formed working relationships with future blues/folk stars such as Joan Osborne
and members of Blues Traveler
.
The group signed with Rounder Records
in 1989 and released their first album, In the Spirit the following year. Four subsequent albums would be recorded for the label. In 1992, the Holmes Brothers were signed to Peter Gabriel
's Real World Records
as the first American act on the prestigious world music label. In the mid 1990s the group performed with Van Morrison
and recorded the soundtrack to the independent film Lotto Land, in which they also starred. In 1997, they were hired by Joan Osborne
as her backing band for a tour supporting Bob Dylan
.
In 2001 the Holmes Brothers signed with Alligator Records
. Their first album for the label was the critically acclaimed Speaking in Tongues, produced by Joan Osborne. Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune called it a “joyous, foot-stomping carnival…a gift to the world of music.” The Chicago Sun-Times called it, "A Breathtaking and heartfelt journey through gospel-drenched soul, blues, funk and country." The Holmes Brothers appeared on television on The Late Show With David Letterman and The CBS Saturday Early Show, as well as on NPR’s Weekend Edition
, A Prairie Home Companion
and Mountain Stage
. In addition, The Holmes Brothers appeared on the M.C. Records tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Shout, Sister, Shout, backing Joan Osborne, Odella, Victoria Williams
and Phoebe Snow
.
In 2003 the group recorded two songs for the soundtrack album for the TV series Crossing Jordan
. Also in 2003, Peter Gabriel
released the single, "Burn You Up, Burn You Down," featuring backing vocals by The Holmes Brothers.
Following their next album for Alligator
, Simple Truths, they appeared on Outlaws And Angels—The Willie Nelson and Friends 3rd Annual Birthday Concert (televised on USA Network
and released on CD and DVD), Late Night With Conan O’Brien, World Cafe, Mountain Stage
, as well as the nationally broadcasted NPR programs All Things Considered
, On Point and Here And Now. Simple Truths and its followup Alligator album, State of Grace, became the first two Holmes Brothers albums to reach the Billboard charts
, with both reaching the top five of the Blues Albums chart. After the release of State of Grace, the band again performed on Late Night With Conan O’Brien. Features and reviews ran in USA Today
, The New York Times
, Billboard, Time Out New York, Rolling Stone
, The New Yorker
and many other publications. The album won the Blues Music Award for Soul Blues Album Of The Year. Reviewer David Fricke of Rolling Stone called the album “impressive, fervent country soul.”
On March 2, 2010, the brothers released the album Feed My Soul, which was inspired in part by Wendell's recent bout with cancer.
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, soul
Soul Music
Soul Music is the sixteenth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, first published in 1994. Like many of Pratchett's novels it introduces an element of modern society into the magical and vaguely late medieval, early modern world of the Discworld, in this case Rock and Roll music and stardom, with...
, gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, and rhythm & blues, they have released nine original albums, with two reaching the top 5 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Blues Albums chart. They have gained a following by playing regularly at summer folk, blues, gospel, and jazz festivals. They’ve recorded with Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
, Odetta
Odetta
Odetta Holmes, known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, songwriter, and a human rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and spirituals...
, Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow was a fictional character created by Earnest Elmo Calkins to promote the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. The advertising campaign, based on a live model, using impressionistic techniques and a fictional character, was one of the first of its kind.-The advertising...
, Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of the late country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin....
, Levon Helm
Levon Helm
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band....
and Joan Osborne
Joan Osborne
Joan Elizabeth Osborne is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her song "One of Us". She has toured with Motown sidemen the Funk Brothers and was featured in the documentary film about them, Standing in the Shadows of Motown.-Biography:Originally from Anchorage, Kentucky, a suburb...
, and have gig
Gig (musical performance)
Gig is slang for a musical engagement in which musicians are hired. Originally coined in the 1920s by jazz musicians, the term, short for the word "engagement", now refers to any aspect of performing such as assisting with performance and attending musical performance...
ged all over the world—including performing for President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. They won the Blues Music Award from the Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
-based Blues Foundation
Blues Foundation
The Blues Foundation is an American nonprofit corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, that is affiliated with more than 175 Blues organizations from various parts of the world....
for Band of the Year in 2005 and for the Soul Blues Album of the Year in 2008. USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
calls The Holmes Brothers’ music "Rootsy R&B, gospel and country. They are glorious, full of soul and surprises." The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
says, “The Holmes Brothers are capable of awesome achievements.” National Public Radio adds, “Their voices are rough enough for a juke joint
Juke joint
Juke joint is the vernacular term for an informal establishment featuring music, dancing, gambling, and drinking, primarily operated by African American people in the southeastern United States. The term "juke" is believed to derive from the Gullah word joog, meaning rowdy or disorderly...
and smooth enough for church.”
Biography
Sherman and Wendell Holmes were born and raised in Christchurch, Virginia. Their schoolteacher parents fostered the boys’ early interest in music as they listened to traditional Baptist hymns, anthems and spirituals as well as blues music by Jimmy ReedJimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
, Junior Parker
Junior Parker
Junior Parker was an American Memphis blues singer and musician. He is best remembered for his unique voice which has been described as "honeyed," and "velvet-smooth"...
and B.B. King. They both sang in the church choir. Sherman studied clarinet and piano before taking up the bass, while Wendell learned trumpet, organ and guitar. Sherman studied composition and music theory at Virginia State University
Virginia State University
Virginia State University is a historically black and land-grant university located north of the Appomattox River in Chesterfield, in the Richmond area. Founded on , Virginia State was the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of higher learning for black Americans...
, but in 1959, he dropped out and headed to New York for a job playing with a singer named Jimmy Jones
Jimmy Jones (singer)
Jimmy Jones is an African American singer-songwriter, who moved to New York while a teenager. According to Allmusic journalist, Steve Huey, "best known for his 1960 R&B smash, "Handy Man," Jones sang in a smooth yet soulful falsetto modeled on the likes of Clyde McPhatter and Sam...
(of Handy Man fame). His younger brother Wendell joined him after completing high school. The two brothers played in a few bands before forming The Sevilles in 1963. The group lasted only three years, but they often backed up touring blues and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
acts such as artists like The Impressions, John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
and Jerry Butler
Jerry Butler (singer)
Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician...
, gaining experience. After The Sevilles disbanded, Sherman, Wendell and a fellow Virginian, drummer Popsy Dixon, continued to play in a variety of Top 40 bar bands. Wendell also toured with Inez and Charlie Foxx (Mockingbird) until 1979.
Sherman, Wendell, and Popsy convened in the form of a new group known as the Holmes Brothers in 1979. The three share vocals (some solo and some in gospel-inspired harmony), with Sherman playing bass, Wendell on guitar and piano, and Popsy on drums. The band frequently plays with additional musicians as well. The trio moved from their hometown of Christchurch, Virginia to Harlem where they regularly performed at blues clubs, most notably Dan Lynch's, a center of the local New York City blues scene. Here the Holmes Brothers formed working relationships with future blues/folk stars such as Joan Osborne
Joan Osborne
Joan Elizabeth Osborne is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her song "One of Us". She has toured with Motown sidemen the Funk Brothers and was featured in the documentary film about them, Standing in the Shadows of Motown.-Biography:Originally from Anchorage, Kentucky, a suburb...
and members of Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler
Blues Traveler is a rock band, formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. The band has been influenced by a variety of genres, including blues-rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul, and Southern rock...
.
The group signed with Rounder Records
Rounder Records
Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
in 1989 and released their first album, In the Spirit the following year. Four subsequent albums would be recorded for the label. In 1992, the Holmes Brothers were signed to Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
's Real World Records
Real World Records
Real World Records is a record label started in 1989 by Peter Gabriel to record and produce world music.-Overview:The label grew up alongside the success of the WOMAD festivals and Peter Gabriel's exploration of music from other cultures, and helped push world music into the general public's...
as the first American act on the prestigious world music label. In the mid 1990s the group performed with Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
and recorded the soundtrack to the independent film Lotto Land, in which they also starred. In 1997, they were hired by Joan Osborne
Joan Osborne
Joan Elizabeth Osborne is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her song "One of Us". She has toured with Motown sidemen the Funk Brothers and was featured in the documentary film about them, Standing in the Shadows of Motown.-Biography:Originally from Anchorage, Kentucky, a suburb...
as her backing band for a tour supporting Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
.
In 2001 the Holmes Brothers signed with Alligator Records
Alligator Records
Alligator Records is a Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971.Iglauer started the label with his own savings to record and produce his favorite band Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers, whom his employer, Bob Koester of Delmark Records, declined to record...
. Their first album for the label was the critically acclaimed Speaking in Tongues, produced by Joan Osborne. Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune called it a “joyous, foot-stomping carnival…a gift to the world of music.” The Chicago Sun-Times called it, "A Breathtaking and heartfelt journey through gospel-drenched soul, blues, funk and country." The Holmes Brothers appeared on television on The Late Show With David Letterman and The CBS Saturday Early Show, as well as on NPR’s Weekend Edition
Weekend Edition
Weekend Edition is the name given to a set of American radio news magazines produced and distributed by National Public Radio . It is the weekend counterpart to Morning Edition. It consists of Weekend Edition Saturday and Weekend Edition Sunday , each of which airs for two hours, from 8 a.m. to 10...
, A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion is a live radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor. The show runs on Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Central Time, and usually originates from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota, although it is frequently taken on the road...
and Mountain Stage
Mountain Stage
Mountain Stage is a two-hour music radio show, first aired in 1983, produced by WV Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by National Public Radio and the Voice of America's satellite radio service. Hosted by Larry Groce, the program showcases diverse music, from the traditional to modern...
. In addition, The Holmes Brothers appeared on the M.C. Records tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Shout, Sister, Shout, backing Joan Osborne, Odella, Victoria Williams
Victoria Williams
Victoria Williams is an American singer-songwriter and musician, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, although she has resided in Southern California throughout her musical career. She is noted for her descriptive songwriting talent, which she has used to immerse the listener of her songs into a...
and Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow
Phoebe Snow was a fictional character created by Earnest Elmo Calkins to promote the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. The advertising campaign, based on a live model, using impressionistic techniques and a fictional character, was one of the first of its kind.-The advertising...
.
In 2003 the group recorded two songs for the soundtrack album for the TV series Crossing Jordan
Crossing Jordan
Crossing Jordan is an American television crime/drama series that aired on NBC from September 24, 2001 to May 16, 2007. It stars Jill Hennessy as Jordan Cavanaugh, M.D., a crime-solving forensic pathologist employed in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Medical Examiner's Office...
. Also in 2003, Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
released the single, "Burn You Up, Burn You Down," featuring backing vocals by The Holmes Brothers.
Following their next album for Alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
, Simple Truths, they appeared on Outlaws And Angels—The Willie Nelson and Friends 3rd Annual Birthday Concert (televised on USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
and released on CD and DVD), Late Night With Conan O’Brien, World Cafe, Mountain Stage
Mountain Stage
Mountain Stage is a two-hour music radio show, first aired in 1983, produced by WV Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by National Public Radio and the Voice of America's satellite radio service. Hosted by Larry Groce, the program showcases diverse music, from the traditional to modern...
, as well as the nationally broadcasted NPR programs All Things Considered
All Things Considered
All Things Considered is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio. It was the first news program on NPR, and is broadcast live worldwide through several outlets...
, On Point and Here And Now. Simple Truths and its followup Alligator album, State of Grace, became the first two Holmes Brothers albums to reach the Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
, with both reaching the top five of the Blues Albums chart. After the release of State of Grace, the band again performed on Late Night With Conan O’Brien. Features and reviews ran in USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Billboard, Time Out New York, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
and many other publications. The album won the Blues Music Award for Soul Blues Album Of The Year. Reviewer David Fricke of Rolling Stone called the album “impressive, fervent country soul.”
On March 2, 2010, the brothers released the album Feed My Soul, which was inspired in part by Wendell's recent bout with cancer.
Discography
- 1990 In the Spirit (Rounder)
- 1991 Where It's At (Rounder)
- 1992 Jubilation (Real World RecordsReal World RecordsReal World Records is a record label started in 1989 by Peter Gabriel to record and produce world music.-Overview:The label grew up alongside the success of the WOMAD festivals and Peter Gabriel's exploration of music from other cultures, and helped push world music into the general public's...
) - 1993 Soul Street (Rounder)
- 1996 Lotto Land (Stony Plain Music)
- 1997 Promised Land (Rounder)
- 2001 Speaking in Tongues (Alligator)
- 2002 Righteous: The Essential Collection (RounderRounder RecordsRounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
) - 2004 Simple Truths (Alligator)
- 2007 State of Grace (AlligatorAlligator RecordsAlligator Records is a Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971.Iglauer started the label with his own savings to record and produce his favorite band Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers, whom his employer, Bob Koester of Delmark Records, declined to record...
) - 2010 Feed My Soul (AlligatorAlligator RecordsAlligator Records is a Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971.Iglauer started the label with his own savings to record and produce his favorite band Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers, whom his employer, Bob Koester of Delmark Records, declined to record...
)