One of my favorite books of all time is “Be Here To Love Me At The End Of The World,” by Sasha Fletcher. As the title would indicate, this is a romance. “Be Here To Love Me” is full of tender moments between the two protagonists, a New York City couple who work mundane desk jobs and find their joy in each other’s arms.
But this book is also a crash course of sociopolitical anxiety. At one moment, the author is describing the couple as they settle in for bed. And in the next, he breaks the fourth wall and veers into long explanations about, say, the death of Fred Hampton or the enactment of the Labor Standards Act or the function of trickle-down economics.
Quad-City Times Reporter Gannon Hanevold It’s a work of art, to me, to create that juxtaposition between roses and revolution. That’s an impossible line to walk. But this is sort of the experience of listening to Jolie Holland’s vast discography.
The Texas-raised, Los Angeles-based folk singer played at the Raccoon Motel on Friday night, cruising through a setlist that waxed and waned between protest songs and love songs with ease. It pulled from across her multi-decade, multi-band catalog. On “First Sign Of Spring,” a fan request, Holland described a love capable of melting the frost on your windshield.
Even as the first signs of fall crept outside the Motel doors, you could feel the pollen in her verses. Folk singer and multi-instrumentalist Jolie Holland performs at the Raccoon Motel. “Only two peopl.