Fans of Sun Ra, take notice – there is a new American original on the
scene who hails from Birmingham, Alabama.
Lonnie Holleys music is unlike anything we have ever heard, and we feel these
recordings are a welcome addition to the continuum of music.
This album marks the first time Dust-to-Digital has taken an artist into a
recording studio.
Lonnie Bradley Holley was born on February 10, 1950 in Birmingham, Alabama, the
seventh of twenty-seven children.
From the age of 5, Holley worked various jobs: picking up trash at a drive-in
movie theatre, washing dishes, and cooking.
He lived in a whiskey house, on the state fairgrounds, and in several foster
homes. His early life was chaotic and Holley was never afforded the pleasure of
a real childhood.
Since 1979, Holley has devoted his life to the practice of improvisational
creativity. His art and music, born out of struggle, hardship, but perhaps more
importantly, out of furious curiosity and biological necessity, has manifested
itself in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, performance, and sound.
Holleys sculptures are constructed from found materials in the oldest tradition
of African American sculpture.
Objects, already imbued with cultural and artistic metaphor, are combined into
narrative sculptures that commemorate places, people, and events.
Holley did not start making and performing music in a studio nor does his
creative process mirror that of the typical musician.
His music and lyrics are improvised on the spot and morph and evolve with every
event, concert, and recording.
In Holleys original art environment, he would construct and deconstruct his
visual works, repurposing their elements for new pieces.
This often led to the transfer of individual narratives into the new work
creating a cumulative composite image that has depth and purpose beyond its
original singular meaning.
The layers of sound in Holleys music, likewise, are the result of decades of
evolving experimentation.
CD Digipak with 20 page booklet featuring lyric transcriptions and artwork by Lonnie Holley