Holly Briggs

Holly Briggs fronts on-again, off-again indie-folk/slowcore band may gray  and is also prone to take the stage alone with acoustic guitar to perform some of her self-penned songs with the occasional cover thrown in. In her civilian life, she teaches art to K-5 students at Moreland Heights Elementary School in South Knoxville, as well as two after-school art clubs and guitar lessons. The busy Ms. Briggs found some time to sit with us while we spun the magic iPod wheel and played her a few tunes.

Cat Power
“Still in Love”
Myra Lee (1996)

Holly: The beginning sounds like a Pavement song. Oh! It's Cat Power. I've never heard the song, though.

KV: It's a Hank Williams cover from her second record.

Holly: I like Cat Power. I'm not a big fan of The Greatest [album], though I like that song. But it was recorded in Memphis, so I feel like I should like it, being from Memphis. You Are Free is the only one I've really delved into. I like this song, though; it's nice. I know this is terrible, but I don't really follow a lot of female singers.

KV: Why is that terrible?

Holly: I guess I feel like I should have more allegiance to my gender. (laughs)

Birddog
“Rattlesnakes”
A Sweet and Bitter Fancy (2001)

Holly: I want to put some slide in may gray's stuff. I went by Pick ‘n' Grin not long ago and tore off one of those slips of papers for lap steel lessons. It's one of those things I like to fantasize about – that I'll have time to learn it. Last year it was the cello, this year it's lap steel. What is this?

KV: Birddog. A Portland guy. Eliot Smith is on this song.

Holly: It's pretty good. I like it.

Michael Hurley
“New River Blues”
Ancestral Swamp (2007)

Holly: I'm going to play guitar like this someday. I've also inquired about some blues guitar lessons. (laughs) That was at Music Room. I don't know who this is.

KV: Michael Hurley.

Holly: Ohhhh… See I only have that Blueberry Wine album, but I listened to the tape so much, it got all worbly. I love “The Tea Song” on that album — the one about “The little leprechaun did a dance for me.” It was really great being able to open for him at Pilot Light, and he even played “The Tea Song!”

Low Skies
“Sad Hymn”
The Bed (2003)

Holly: Awwwwwww! I love this band! Low Skies! They are more than a band, they're more than friends. We're all partners in this music extravaganza. I love those men. They come here and stay with us, and we go to Chicago and stay with them. They all live together. Hanging out with them is like hanging out at camp. They've recently disbanded; the singer's moved on, but the rest are continuing with some other musical endeavor.

Their songs are permanently engrained into certain parts of my life. (pause) This reminds me of walking down the street a couple of years ago, around the Fort. I've lived in Fort Sanders for like eight years. I gotta get out of there. (laughs)

Carole King
“You've Got a Friend”
Tapestry (1971)

Holly: This is a James Taylor song. So I'm gonna go with Carly Simon.

KV: Carole King. She wrote the song.

Holly: I'm only a James Taylor fan because my dad played his records a lot. This song's just OK.

KV: So you're not a Carole King or Tapestry fan? Joni Mitchell?

Holly: I like Joni Mitchell. If we're going to go with ‘60s women folksingers, I like Vashti Bunyan a lot. Her new album [Lookaftering] is really good. Joanna Newsom's playing harp on it, and there's glockenspiel and layered vocals. It's fantastic. I'm almost ashamed how much I listened to it. I have the iTunes play counter, and it's way up there.

Will Oldham
“Take However Long You Want”
Patience 7” (1997)

Holly: It's my favorite. Will Oldham is my favorite of all. I'm slightly fanatical about him. I like how raw it is, and he's incredibly articulate. The Letting Go was my favorite album of last year. My favorite song of his might be Palace's “Gulf Shores”; it's just fantastic. It's subtle and has this nice slide in the background. And Ease Down the Road was the soundtrack to my life for about a year. I love this song.

Amy Winehouse w/ Ghostface Killah
You Know I'm No Good (remix)
Back to Black (2006)

Holly: Oh yeah! Throw some rap in here. Is this like Amy Winehouse or something?

KV: Yeah, the remix with Ghostface Killah.

Holly: Amy Winehouse is OK. I like reading about the disintegration of her life. I don't really listen to her, though. Throw on some rap! My friend is always trying to get me to listen to Amy Winehouse. She's really young — isn't she like 22? She sounds like she's 80.

Her voice is incredibly distinct. She's got that going for her.

Justin Timberlake
“Cry Me a River”
Justified (2002)

Holly: YES! I love this song! You can't go wrong with Justin Timeberlake. Standard, pop classic.

KV: You just like him ‘cause he's from Memphis.

Holly:  Oh, he's not from Memphis, he's from Germantown or something. The rural suburbs. I love this song. I cover it.

KV: Had you heard other versions before this? Julie London?

Holly: Yeah, but his is the best. This one's way up there on my iTunes counter, too. When he hooked up with Timbaland… everything Timbaland touches turns to gold. I'm resisting the temptation to sing along.

Alejandro Escovedo and the Zilker Elementary School kids
“Sad & Dreamy (the Big 10)”
Por Vida: Fan Club CD (2004)

Holly: I love kids! What is this?

KV: Alejandro Escovedo and a group of kids he wrote a song with. The kids wrote the lyrics and did a pretty good job with it.

Holly: Oh, I love it! I'm surrounded by kids all day, every day, so sometimes I feel like I lose sight of how fun they are. Kids are really excited about everything, and they have a way of giving a magic touch to whatever you're doing. One of my all-time favorite albums is the Langley School Project. If I got my story right, a Canadian school group needed to raise some money in the'70s so they recorded an album with their music teacher, and the kids sing pop songs. It's the worst music instruments, though, like xylophone and recorders and an out of tune guitar. “Space Oddity” and “Rhiannon” and “Band on the Run” and the kid who plays the cymbal is always off by a few seconds, so it's like (sings) “Band on the Run…Kchhh!” If you like kids, you should check out that album. It's great.