Holcombe has self-released three albums of varying styles. His work first received international attention with his 2001 album Extravagant Gesture. The indie album was lauded by a Spin Magazine review,[1] and in REVOLVER Magazine Ann Powers wrote, "For melodic sweep, the prize goes to Holcombe Waller, whose self-released Extravagant Gesture is a small pop epic."[2] Holcombe's pop influences shifted towards folk for his 2005 release, Troubled Times. The work continued to receive broad critical attention including a positive review in Paste Magazine and a large editorial feature in BUTT Magazine.[3][4]
Since Troubled Times, Holcombe has focused on commissions for multidisciplinary performance, dance scores, collaborations, and film scores. He has recently completed "Into the Dark Unknown," an album of music from his touring theatrical folk concert by the same name. The album has posted for public release February 15, 2011.
Early life
Holcombe was born in Stanford, California. He lived in Palo Alto until the age of 18, when he moved to Los Angeles to record a solo album, never released, with a now-defunct upstart label. At 19, he moved to New Haven, Connecticut as an undergraduate student at Yale University. There he produced work for various artists and bands, and casually picked up guitar. Holcombe produced and mixed two albums for Project Nim, a band that included fellow Yalie Bryce Dessner as well as Aaron Dessner and Bryan Devendorf, all now members of The National. Holcombe also recorded and mixed fellow Yalie Mia Doi Todd's album Come Out of Your Mine in 1997 in Dwight Chapel on Yale Campus, where he held his first public performance with guitar and vocals in the Spring of 1998. That year Holcombe began recording for his first album, Advertising Space. The sessions included Bryce on guitar, Aaron on bass and Bryan on drums. Holcombe graduated from Yale with a degree in Art, specializing in video installation, and moved back to his home state of California, settling in San Francisco.
Holcombe finished and self-released Advertising Space in 1999 on his imprint, Napoleon Records. Though only locally promoted, the album was picked up by Hear Music and editorially featured in all of their stores.
From 2000 to 2004, Holcombe worked in the information technology department of an internet hosting company, which allowed him to fund his next two albums. Extravagant Gesture (2001 Napoleon Records) also featured Bryce Dessner on guitars, and was picked up by Redeye Distribution in the United States. Troubled Times (2005 Napoleon Records) represented an artistic shift towards a more spare, folk-oriented orchestration. It was recorded in collaboration with college friend and multi-instrumentalist Ben Landsverk and features a guest performance by Mia Doi Todd.
By 2005, Holcombe had left his job and moved to Portland, Oregon with the intention of becoming a full-time musician and artist.
Career
Upon arriving in Portland in 2005, Holcombe's trajectory shifted towards multidisciplinary performance. He was cast in One, an original musical by Wade McCollum, and Tao Soup, a multidisciplinary ensemble piece by Scott Kelman. In 2006, Holcombe began integrating his experiences in theater, video installation and music with a piece titled Mihael Sagalovesky and the Tragic Torments of Patty Heart Townes. The work featured 6 Patty Griffin songs and 6 Townes Van Zandt songs arranged to represent a broad narrative arch of dissolution and redemption. The work premiered in Portland in 2007 and toured to New York (Joe's Pub) and Philadelphia.
In 2008, Holcombe was commissioned by the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art and On the Boards of Seattle to create his theatrical folk concert, Into the Dark Unknown: The Hope Chest. The work integrated aspects of theater, video installation and folk concert. The work was supported by the Rockefeller Foundation's prestigious MAP Fund and toured to the New York Public Theater (Under the Radar Festival), Seattle’s On the Boards, PuSh International Performing Arts Festival (Vancouver BC), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the Queer Zagreb Festival, among others.
An album of music from the show features his ensemble, The Healers, as well as drummer Danny Seim (Menomena, Lackthereof). The album was funded by a Kickstarter campaign in the Spring of 2010, and is scheduled for release Winter 2011.[5]
In the Fall of 2009, Holcombe was a Visiting Artist Lecturer in the Department of Theater, Performance Studies and Dance at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught the seminar Contemporary Song-based Performance Art. Winter 2010, Holcombe launched the development of a new multidisciplinary performance titled "Surfacing," commissioned with the National Performance Network by OutNorth and Helena Presents.
Collaborations
Holcombe has created two collaborative performances with Joe Goode Performance Group: "Small Experiments in Song and Dance," which premiered in January 2009 at the Brava Theater in San Francisco, and "Dead Boys," a musical which premiered at the Zellerbach Playhouse at U.C. Berkeley in October 2009.
Holcombe worked with Zoe Scofield, the Seattle-based choreographer of Zoe|Juniper, scoring music for her performance Old Girl, commissioned by the Spectrum Dance Theater of Seattle in October 2008.
Holcombe has recently scored the film, "We Were Here: Voices from the AIDS Years in San Francisco," by David Weissman and Bill Weber.
Baby Blue
Holcombe Waller Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In the kitchen sun you stand
Oh your shoulders, oh your hands
Your weekend plans trapped in the orbit of your bed
As your heart pounds in your head
Like a prisoner left for dead
If he were only dead
Bruise your ribs up with the iron that once belonged to someone else
I take two steps back and then three steps up
Still I'd fall back to stand by you
And back to sleep, baby blue
For the case was true, yes it was true
These quiet conversations you've been having with yourself
Bruise your ribs up with the iron you wish belonged to someone else
I take two steps back and then three steps up
Still I'd fall back to stand by you
Back to sleep by you
Back to sleep
But that kind of dream is done
Nothing lost and no thing won
And the best is yet to come
And that old bull dogging my friends I've outrun
The song "Baby Blue" by Holcombe Waller is a melancholic yet hopeful reflection on the struggles of a person who is dealing with the aftermath of a relationship breakdown. The song features evocative and expressive lyrics that paint a picture of someone who is dealing with feelings of loss and vulnerability, as they struggle to come to terms with the emotional turmoil that they are going through. The opening lines of the song set the scene, with the singer describing the person standing in the kitchen sun, their shoulders slumped and their hands hanging by their side. The image is one of defeat and sadness, with the person seemingly trapped in their own thoughts.
The lyrics then move to describe the internal dialogue that the person is having with themselves, with the singer suggesting that these conversations are causing the person physical pain. The line "bruise your ribs up with the iron that once belonged to someone else" is particularly evocative, painting a picture of someone using an iron to beat themselves up emotionally. The singer recognizes the pain that the person is going through and describes their own efforts to support them, saying that they take "two steps back and then three steps up" to stay by their side. The song ends on a note of hope, with the singer suggesting that the best is yet to come and that they have overcome the challenges that were holding them back.
Overall, "Baby Blue" is a beautifully written and emotionally poignant song that captures the struggles of someone dealing with heartbreak and loss. Its themes of vulnerability and resilience are timeless and universal, and the evocative lyrics and haunting melody will stay with the listener long after the song has ended.
Line by Line Meaning
Baby blue*
Addressing the person being referred to as 'baby blue'
In the kitchen sun you stand
Describing the location of the person, standing in the kitchen under the sun
Oh your shoulders, oh your hands
Indicating that the observer notices the person's shoulders and hands
Your weekend plans trapped in the orbit of your bed
Suggesting that the person's weekend plans are being hindered by their sleep habits
As your heart pounds in your head
Describing a physical sensation, the pounding of the person's heart in their head
Like a prisoner left for dead
Using a metaphor to describe how the person feels
If he were only dead
Continuing the metaphor, suggesting that death might seem like an escape
These quiet conversations you've been having with yourself
Acknowledging that the person has been having conversations with themselves
Bruise your ribs up with the iron that once belonged to someone else
Suggesting that these conversations are causing distress and harm to the person's body
I take two steps back and then three steps up
Describing a physical movement, possibly pointing to the observer's own actions
Still I'd fall back to stand by you
Committing to support the person despite the difficulties described in the previous lines
And back to sleep, baby blue
Repeating the earlier reference to the person's sleep habits
For the case was true, yes it was true
Stating that what has been said before is true
But that kind of dream is done
Suggesting that the difficult situation referenced before is coming to an end
Nothing lost and no thing won
Reflecting on the situation, implying that there was no clear victory or defeat
And the best is yet to come
Reaffirming hope and optimism for the future
And that old bull dogging my friends I've outrun
Using another metaphor, possibly recognizing some past obstacles, but indicating that they have been overcome
Contributed by Jeremiah F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.