Holopaw, a five strong, ragtag group of string-benders, knob-twiddlers and finger pickers from Gainesville, Florida, came to our attention by way of Isaac Brock (he and Holopaw’s John Orth co-wrote some of our favorite songs on the Ugly Casanova record). Isaac played us their demo and we haven’t been the same since. Throughout, human fragility teeters on the edge of electric malfunction, dutifully powered along by pedal steels and steel pedals alike. We quickly came to realize that the strength of this band lies in the many contradictions they present: stripped acoustic arrangements are unsettled by electronic pulses and swells that fade in and out of songs like the warble of a short-wave radio. The sweetest melodies are splintered with stories of broekn backs and horses tangled in bridal veils. A sweet, spare vocal track is suddenly pulled under by a rush of dark, spiraling voices, only to surface again – more beautiful still for the contrast. It is these contradictions that might make Holopaw hard to describe, but harder still to ignore.

Holopaw is: Michael Johnson, Jeff Hays, Tobi Echevarria, Ryan Gensemer, and John Orth (also in Ugly Casanova)

Produced by Brian Deck