Vashon Island’s Café Luna: Holly Phillips and Tom Rawson
December 11, 2008 at 11:45 pm Leave a comment
Vashon Island’s Café Luna presents two nights of music this weekend. On Friday, December 12, singer-songwriter Holly Phillips performs a free show from 7:30 until 10:00 pm.
Holly Phillips has resided in Washington for the last 9 years. Playing casually here and there at the “Folklife Festival” in 98’, Canada’s GreenPeace Benefit Concert at the “Commodore Ballroom”, in 2003. She appeared on the Seattle Show, “Gimme the Mike” and records her own music at home.
Holly had professional vocal training from Shelly Franklin from 13-16 years old in Campbell, CA at, “Showcase Music Institute”. There she also began to learn the basics of recording and was asked to sing on demos of other musicians. Holly was also in Bay Area’s World Beat band, “African Rain”, fronted by Bob Culbertson and Grammy Award winner, Babatunde Olatunji. She performed at such places as, “The Fillmore West” (opening band for “Zap Mama”), “The Catalyst”, “The Great American Music Hall”, “The Palace of the Fine Arts”, and performed with Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. Holly was in “African Rain” for 5 years and while still in High School recorded her first album with Babatunde Olatunji in 1992. In 1996 Holly Studied with Babatunde in New York and opened for Drums of Passion in Manhattan at the “Sounds Of Brazil”.
Currently Holly is working on releasing her 2nd solo album with songs she’s been writing for the last 10 years. With a fresh new outlook on life, Holly feels that she can only pursue what is true to her heart and to do otherwise, would be impossible.
On Saturday, December 13, Vashon’s Café Luna presents Tom Rawson, Folk Singer of User Friendly Songs at 7:30 pm. You will love his take on the world of folk music. Some songs will be familiar and some will surprise you wonderfully.
“Tom Rawson-Pete Seeger. These two run together in my mind. Friendly charismatic banjo playing lovers of folk music. A full smiling voice who loves to share his musical treasures with an ‘I know something you don’t know and you’re gonna love it too’ kind of smile. More of a sharing than a show. . . We gladly follow his lead and sing with the chorus from the very first song, every song a sing along. . . First timer or old fan, old song or new, it always seems we are singing our favorites with an old friend. A past brimming with hope for a gentler future. . . Tom is showing us we may be strangers, but we are a family. A family of song.”
–Steve Durfee, Victory Review, May 1993
“Enter Tom Rawson. Witty, energetic, and armed with banjo, lap dulcimer, and guitar, he takes the stage to warm applause from the crowd who has turned out to see him. Tom and this audience are made for each other. They know lots of songs and heck, they’ll sing along even when you don’t ask them to. I’ve seen some performers taken aback by this. Not Tom. His grin broadens as the harmonies swell. He teases them, singing one called “This is NOT a sing along!” You got it: they sing along anyway, getting louder and fuller as Tom more stridently insists that this is NOT a sing along! ”
– Hank Cramer, Victory Review – March 2002
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Entry filed under: • Vashon Events, Music. Tags: Add new tag, Holly Phillips, Tom Rawson, vashon events, Vashon music, Vashon's Cafe Luna.
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