Emotions ran the gamut this past weekend in Colorado and beyond,  as fans witnessed Holly Bowling’s final string of solo performances, for the foreseeable future, before the beloved pianist switches her focus to her recently announced project, Ghost Light, featuring Tom Hamilton, Raina Mullen, Scotty Zwang, and Steve Lyons.

This three-day Colorado mini-tour would mark the end of a three-year-long chapter in the pianist’s meteoric rise. For many HoBos, this run was the bittersweet culmination in the evolution of Bowling’s career. Across all three performances, there was an air of jubilation and gratitude honoring Holly’s transcendent style.

Holly’s run kicked off on Wednesday night January 31, where she appeared at The Music Room at Colorado Springs’ Fine Arts Center, a bit of a utilitarian recital hall which has certainly seen its fair share of diverse artistic shows. On this evening, however, the venue’s excellent acoustics were treated to one of Holly Bowling’s most inspired solo shows of the season.

The gravity of Holly’s “final” solo performances was not lost on either the artist or the audience. The once-in-a-generation pianist was a bit chattier than usual and visibly ecstatic as she opened the first set of the run with “Lost Sailor” into “A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing”. She followed up the opener with her original composition, “You Are Not Are You”, before launching into “Col. Forbin Ascent” and “Fly Famous Mockingbird”. She then electrified the room with the Grateful Dead’s classic “Estimated Prophet”, weaving back into the reprise of “A Song I Heard The Ocean Sing”, all of which was sprinkled generously with quotes from “Estimated Prophet”. Bowling closed out the show with a staggering “Morning Dew”, at the end of which the otherwise silently rapt audience exploded in appreciation.

Holly Bowling – The Music Room – Colorado Springs, CO – 1/31/2018 – Set One

Set two of Holly’s Colorado Springs show was no less astonishing. Holly’s Grateful Dead and Phish jam stew was on full display as the chill wrenching opening chords of “St. Stephen” filled the space. The mood lifted once again when Holly eased into “Theme From the Bottom” then sculpting her way through “Darkstar” and “Wharf Rat” before segueing back into “Darkstar” and, eventually, “Theme from the Bottom”. To round this frame out, Bowling offered a very heady “Saint of Circumstance” to close out the set in a titanic fashion. The evening’s sole encore of “Lizards” left the room with a good ole case of perma-grin to ease the collective malaise and weight of the weekend elegy.

Holly Bowling – The Music Room – Colorado Springs, CO – 1/31/2018 – Set Two

Thursday, February 1st, saw Holly Bowling make her way to a sold-out Bluebird Theatre in Denver. This quaint, century-old venue was the perfect canvas for Jeffery Bowling’s excellent light projection accompaniment. Holly remained true to form, steadfast and focused as she lit up the room with her gorgeous piano reimaginings of familiar tunes. Set one kicked off with her mashed up versions of “China Cat Sunflower” and “Divided Sky”, plus a crackling “It’s Ice” which was filled with some of Holly’s trademark Jamticklery. The set truly took flight toward its end with a soul-stirring combination of “Althea” into “Cassidy” and a blissful “Taste” to close the set.

Set two opened to the machinations of “Scents and Subtle Sounds”, “Terrapin Suite”, and “Days Between”, with Holly working her magic with the strings within the interior of the grand piano. She eventually took this back into “Terrapin” before transitioning through Phish’s “Dirt” and finishing off the loop with a closing “I Know You Rider”. To bring the show to its thrilling conclusion, Holly offered up “Slave to the Traffic Light”, sending a collective chill through the audience.

Holly Bowling – Bluebird Theatre – Denver, CO – 2/1/2018

[Audio: lucas9000]

Friday, February 2, 2018, is destined to go down in HoBo lore as a show to remember. Holly spent the afternoon providing a workshop for budding Aspen pianists before going live from the Aspen District Theater, an aspiring venue in the tawny Colorado town. Holly’s presence lent considerable credibility to the scholastic auditorium whose grand acoustics are matched by their dreams of attracting more bands and becoming a true destination venue.

Holly Bowling – Aspen District Theater – Aspen, CO – 2/2/2018 – Set One

Set one was a masterclass in the healing art of Holly Bowling’s music. The emotions of the musician and her enchanted audience were palpable as she stitched and wove together colorful bolts of “Stash” “Cryptical Envelopment”, “The Other One”, and “Fast Enough For You” as well as “Mountains of the Moon”, “Free”, and back into “Stash”. Set two was no less impressive or stout, as Holly worked the ivory as only she can. The confections of “Help on the Way”, “Slipknot”, “Tweezer”,  “Stella Blue” and “Piper”, “Slipknot”, and “Franklin’s Tower” were a time-shifting blur.

Holly Bowling – Aspen District Theater – Aspen, CO – 2/2/2018 – Set Two

After graciously thanking the audience, whose eruptive appreciation was near spiritual, Holly announced that the management said she could play as long as she wanted. To that she responded with a brilliant display of spine-chilling technique and Steinway boundary-stretching bravado on her transcribed jam of the Grateful Dead’s historic “Eyes of the World” from June 18th, 1974, and “China Doll”, at which point the artist and assembled were wrung out.

While Holly Bowling may be tabling her solo piano work for the foreseeable future, fans are beyond eager for her to launch the inaugural tour of her new musical adventure with Ghost Light wherein she will be able to show off the funk-rock chops she has been honing with Phil Lesh, Everyone Orchestra, and others. 

She will be joined in this new endeavor by Tom Hamilton (Joe Russo’s Almost Dead) and his (American Babies collaborator) guitarist Raina Mullen, as well as bass player Steve Lyons (Nicos Gun) and a funky-ass percussion pummeler, Scotty Zwang (Dopapod). Stay tuned as we see how Holly Bowling continues to evolve, though it would seem that the future health of our jam scene is in good hands.

You can check out photos from Holly Bowling’s Thursday night performance at the Bluebird Theatre in Denver, Colorado, below, courtesy of photographer Bill McAlaine, and look for Ghost Light as they begin their first national tour in March.