By Gina Malone
After a visit to Asheville years ago, musician, songwriter and performer Mike Hollon recognized a place he wanted to be. So, in 2021, he left Lincoln, NE, and settled here to “welcome some change, immerse myself in the music and have more opportunities for places to play,” he says. Hollon plays guitar and ukelele, and sings and writes music. His own favorite music spans the genres and includes rock, old Motown, soul, jazz, outlaw country and psychedelic rock. “I guess I have sort of wrapped up these influences into my own style of Indie-Folk,” he says. “Playing the guitar allowed me to have a voice. I would write, and it gave me an outlet to express myself and share my thoughts.”
He released his debut album, Irving Park, in October, and already a single from the album, “Downhill Slide,” has garnered praise from online magazine Americana Highways, which cites the “bright, upbeat acoustic guitar” as well as the song’s message and memorable delivery. It’s an optimistic song that Hollon singles out as being particularly meaningful to him. “‘Downhill Slide’ is about white-knuckling it and wanting everything to sort of smooth out,” he says.
The album contains songs he wrote outdoors, including a couple that were written while sitting on his porch in Asheville. The album’s title and title track pay tribute to a park where Hollon wrote a lot of music during the pandemic. “It’s about getting out into nature, putting all the media away and just listening to what the birds and the trees and the beauty is trying to communicate to you,” he says.
“Blue Mountain Spring” is a song that grew out of place and a particular time, in this case the days after Hurricane Helene’s devastation. “It’s an instrumental song prayer for WNC,” Hollon says, “hoping for brighter days ahead, new beginnings and hope that we can grow and flourish.”
Hollon predicts that every listener will find a soul-connecting song on the album. “There’s a song about moving on after a relationship has gone sour, to letting go, to moving to a new place to have your star shine a little brighter, a couple instrumentals, a song about just hoping that things smooth out,” he says. “I think this album will connect to people who like rootsy, bluesy music with some great lyrics and rhythms. We really had a fun time in the studio recording it, and I think it shines through in the music.”
Upcoming local shows to catch include: Auction House, in Fletcher, on Friday, December 5, 6–9 p.m.; Sweeten Creek Brewing, in Asheville, on Friday, December 12, 6–8 p.m.; and River Arts District Brewing, in Asheville, on Friday, December 19, 6–9 p.m. Learn more at MikeHollon.com.
