A wonderful combination of genres : blues , soul ,gospel ,rock and roll ,blues rock -permeate this songwriters work.
Tony takes the past to move forward and write on his terms -but with a tip of the hat to music history.
As he states on his website:
“Since relocating from Salt Lake City to Memphis in 2017, Holiday has been at the center of a soul blues revival in Memphis, anchored by a contingent of young, savvy well-schooled musicians with a “family-like” attitude and a strong belief in one another. Mentored by past legends, Holiday and this loose Memphis collective are building on the city’s rich traditions and carrying them forward.”
He is a big fan of collaborative writing and currently performs the majority of his own songs live.
That is a testament to his integrity standing behind his music and making it front and center.
He states:
“I am lucky to have great co-writers in my life like AJ Fullerton, Jad Tariq, Ori Naftali (Southern Avenue) ,Jake Friel, John Nemeth Jordan Young, and Max Kaplan to name a handful that have helped write the last 3 records.”
He cites artists such as Bobby Blue Bland , Kim Wilson (The Fabulous Thunderbirds) to Doc Watson and The Neville Brothers - as his influences.
Regarding songwriting method and inspiration:
“I’m very drawn to ANYTHING that paints a picture, or has the obvious canvas to do so. Something that takes you back to a feeling or inspires feelings immediately.
I like to color match my songs and write in different color modes and patterns if you will. Currently I’m writing and co-writing a lot of positive “yellows and reds” as I like to call them."
Check out “Get By” from the latest album 'Motel Mississippi' -its a stomping Chicago blues derived rocker with Tony’s plaintive harmonica and guitar interplay driving home the emotion of the song.
“Just As Gone” from the same album has a stomping gospel backbeat feel - with tasty slide guitar and slap back reverb on the lead vocal. It’s a slow smoldering barnburner of a song!
Regarding future plans and his motivation to keep moving forward :
"These days I love improving the “show” and building chemistry with the band as we continue to add layers to the entity that is the “live experience”
Go check out the live show- with his excellent band- that takes him all over the USA and Europe -as well as Tony’s latest album “Motel Mississippi” -its music of integrity and authenticity.
More info here: