Holly Near - The Outwords Archive

Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert performing at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA, 1983. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly Near and Inti-Illimani performing at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA, 1984. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly performing at the Great American Music Hall for a Valentine’s Day concert, San Francisco, CA, 1984. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly Near, Linda Tillery, Adrian Torf, Barbra Higby, and Teresa Trull performing at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA, 1984. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Linda Tillery, Bernice Johnson Reagon, and Holly Near performing at the Redwood Music Festival at Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 1985. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly Near and Inti-Illimani at the Redwood Music Festival at Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 1985. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly Near and Bernice Johnson Reagon performing at the Redwood Music Festival at Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 1985. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly Near performing at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA, 1985. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert at the Redwood Music Festival at Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 1985. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert performing at the Redwood Music Festival at Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 1985. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly performing in the Ensemble Finale at the Redwood Music Festival at Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 1985. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly performing in the Ensemble Finale at the Redwood Music Festival at Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 1986. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly performing at the Redwood Music Festival at Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, 1986. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly at the Veterans Memorial Anti-War Protest, 1986. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly Near and Luis Enrigue Mejia Godoy de Nicaragua performing at the Redwood Music Festival, 1989. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly performing at the Redwood Music Festival, 1992. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly Near, Odetta, and Ronnie Gilbert performing at the Redwood Music Festival, 1992. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly performing during the “Peace Becomes You” Tour, Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, CA, 2013. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly Near and Ronnie Gilbert performing during the “Peace Becomes You” Tour, Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, CA, 2013. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

L-R: David Rokeach, John Bucchino, Jan Martinelli, Holly Near, Pat Humphries, Andre dos Santos Morgan, and Sandy O on the “Peace Becomes You” Tour, Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, CA, 2013. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly Near with Emma’s Revolution on the “Peace Becomes You” Tour, Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, CA, 2013. Photo Credit: J.A. Rubino. Photo courtesy of Holly Near.

Holly Near was born on June 6th, 1949 in Potter Valley, California, a remote enclave in Mendocino County, and grew up on a farm where her father raised Hereford cattle, chickens, and pigs. Music was central to her family’s life. Together, they listened to Benny Goodman, Lena Horne, Leontyne Price, Miriam Makeba, and Edith Piaf. Much later, Holly realized that the music of her childhood helped establish her belief system, a system based on choosing curiosity and fascination over fear.

When Holly was 13, her family moved to “the big city” of Ukiah, California. As part of the move, her family bought their first television. This was how Holly witnessed the Civil Rights Movement in action. The songs from the era also taught Holly that an idea could be expressed through music. This understanding would underpin Holly’s decision to join Jane Fonda’s Free the Army (FTA) tour, and to become a feminist. After her FTA experience, Holly headed to Hollywood to focus on her acting and songwriting; but no record companies were interested in her sound. Fortunately, around that same time in 1971, Holly joined the Indochina Peace Campaign tour with Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden. Through the Campaign, Holly recorded several songs, and eventually opened her record company Redwood Records in 1972. While on tour, she met Meg Christensen who asked her if she had ever written a song about just women. Holly hadn’t – so she wrote a song about her older sister, Timothy, titled You’ve Got Me Flying. In the meantime, Holly and Meg fell in love. Holly first came out at Michigan’s Womyn’s Festival, then later on in People Magazine.

In the 1990s, Holly wrote her autobiography Fire in the Rain, Singer in the Storm. She and Timothy subsequently produced a one-woman show based on the book. The show was featured at the Mark Taper Forum in L.A., Union Theater off Broadway in New York, and at the San Jose Repertory in San Jose, California.

In April 2004, Holly made an appearance at the March for Women’s Lives where she performed “We Are A Gentle, Angry People” and “Fired Up.” In 2018, she released her single 2018 which reflected on the environment, aging, domestic violence, and the storm damage done in Puerto Rico due to Hurricane Maria. That same year the biographical documentary Holly Near: Singing for Our Lives premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival.

Today, Holly has a discography of twenty-nine albums, and lives in Ukiah again where she enjoys her semi-retirement. She believes when people as individuals can better themselves, and bring their best selves to the table to do the work, that’s when everyone will become their superpower. Now, living as a self-described elder-in-training for the LGBTQ+ community, Holly hopes the next generation can take the work that has been done to create a united political force.

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