Over Land And Leas

http://thehollands.bandcamp.com/album/over-land-and-leas

We are excited to announce that “Over Land and Leas” is available for purchase.

Get your download or hard copy today!

This album gives narrative shape to the pilgrimage through the storms, blue skies, daily work, and dreams of our common lives.

Featuring songs like Washerman’s Field, a riotous song with a strong word of warning to those consumed with power and war. Written in the spirit of Woody Guthrie, Traveling Man is a rowdy composition empathizing with those who have no place to call home. Lanie Done Did, is a murder balled, which chronicles the journey of a young prostitute. The Amaryllis is a precious tale that laments a mothers death and rejoice the birth of a daughter.  Lillian’s Daydream is a beautiful guitar piece that preludes the title track. Over Land and Leas is a old Scottish folk tale sung with a haunting remembrance of times gone by.

Old Man’s Town makes an appearance on this album (first debuting on Ashes To Beauty in 2011) Originally sung as more of a ballad, this new version offers more of the high energy The Hollands! share during their live performance. Haiti was written on an airplane from Australia to the US. Using words from a crossword puzzle as inspiration, this dramatic song ends up being a harking call to help those in desperate situations. Russian Lullaby is an evocative song that tells the tale of those who suffer at the hands of war.  The Great Lake Plains is a rollicking song, written in a Dolly Parton vane and pays homage to Jana’s family history and involvement in the underworld back in the 1920-30’s. Rain was written after a personal bout with cancer and is a tender cry for healing.

The Album ends with the traditional, Wayfaring Stranger, composed and performed Holland style, displaying beautiful harmonies, mouth harp, banjo, mandolin and Craig’s brawny rhythms.

All lyrics were written by Jana Holland, except Lanie Done Did and Lillian’s Daydream, written by Graciana Holland.

Recorded & Engineered by David Fuller at Sun Room Studios in Portland OR

Produced by David Fuller and The Hollands!

Art and Design by Joel Pritchard

The Hollands! are Jana Holland, Craig Holland, Graciana Holland and Banjo Holland.

This album includes the creative contributions of David Fuller, David Baumgartner, Joby Morey, Tom Cameron, Joh Behr and Dony Wynn.

Copyright The Hollands! All rights reserved Dutchy Love Records

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Sun Room Sessions

Our first recording sessions with David Fuller at Sun Room Studios in Portland, Oregon was quite fruitful.

Homeschool and Recording

Recording the Banjo

Inspiration

Drummer boy

Community and Song

David Fuller

Full day of recording

Sing little darling

Tuning

It was a first for our drummer and youngest Holland. With over 200 shows this year under his belt, our eleven yr old has become quite accomplished on the cajon (box drum). However, a strong live performance doesn’t always transfer to the studio and at an early age he has come face to face with his own inadequacies. And, through much perseverance he has overcome them. In fact, we all have. When you take away the energy that we offer during a live performance and break it down to just instrument or voice and the microphone, the truth of talent really comes out. That is when we really see what we’re all made of. Oh sure, we could auto tune, cut and paste, fabricate but we’re folkies and our hope is to create something genuinely us.

The process of recording really taps into all sorts of emotion from criticalness, insecurity, joy, laughter and delight. Half of our songs have a solid base, disciplined intent and a flavor of energy that comes from the excitement and anticipation of the final product.

Now, we take three weeks to write, refine and rest. Back to the studio early January.

New Album in the Works

The life changes we have made over this past year have been so mind altering and soul stretching. It’s been a process to digest it all but over the last few weeks we have put our minds and efforts into writing songs. We hope to record these new songs this December in Portland, OR with David Fuller. Looking to have it available Spring 2013.

Crux of the Album:

There is a great love and purpose for us that is worked out in the messes, storms, blue skies, daily work, and dreams of our common lives.  This album gives narrative shape to actual people and circumstances in their dealings with God, each other and the inner workings within themselves.

Themes: Community, Common Lives, Storms, Injustice, Faithfulness, Long-Suffering, Circle, History, Pastoral, Poetry, Kingdom, Voyage.

We’ve decided to redo Old Man’s Town from our latest album, ‘Ashes to Beauty’ and feature it on this upcoming album. It’s a song that has aged well and our hope is to really allow the energy that has been building in that song to have a second chance to impact.

We’ve also been working to incorporate the unified sound that has developed in us as a family, not just a duo. Over the last two years we’ve performed as a family 355 times. There is a solidity that has developed and we are looking to incorporate that into this album. So, although we will still have room for guest appearance’s, on this recording we will feature “The Hollands!” as a band and as a family, including musical parts and songs that have been written by our children, songs like “Lanie Done Did” written by Graciana Holland.

Here is an excerpt from that song:

“Just about 26 seconds ago/Lanie done something bad/That time that time that time/Was all it took to make him mad/And the waves came down/Like an earthquake ready to rumble/Rolling round, Lanie, done did stumble”