Tales from the Green Room

Super-creative, virtuoso pianist, Holly Bowling joins the show in the first-ever podcast recorded in The Green Room at Garcia’s Chicago. Holly shares the etiology of her genre-crossing and improvisational style in between her two incredible debut appearances at this spectacular venue - playing the music of Phish and The Grateful Dead on solo piano! The episode delves into Holly’s classical training, influences, and balancing the dual aspects of meticulous arrangement and spontaneous performance in her work, highlighting her diverse approaches to both solo and collaborative concerts.

Holly fondly recalls with the hosts her time learning under Phil Lesh at Terrapin Crossroads and the impact it had on her musical career and relationships. The conversation takes listeners behind the scenes of Holly’s musical endeavors during the pandemic, uniquely recording while immersed in spectacular national landscapes (The Wilderness Sessions), and how she cleverly lured GreenSky Bluegrass into her world. Holly also provides a glimpse into her personal life, including her experiences as a mother and the musical talent of her young son, Ryland.

HIGHLIGHTS

The whole point of playing music for other people is to connect emotionally.  It’s the sameness of the human experience… we're all human doing this life thing together. My favorite shows I've ever attended are the ones where there is that kind of emotional range and depth, whether it's total joy and ecstasy to shows where I have wept in public.
  

-Holly Bowling on how she uses the piano to evoke the emotions and feelings of an audience, much in the same way Jerry Garcia did with his guitar.

I’m really excited about it. Everyone's like, “you're doing a solo piano show, a quiet listening thing at Cervantes?” I'm like, yes. It's going to be amazing. We’re gonna totally turn the expectations upside down. It’s also a party.  My shows are a much more inward experience, so we’re going to drop a grand piano in there, put seats in, and transform it in a way that most people have never seen Cervantes.                                                 
-Holly Bowling on playing a show at the Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver on July 2, 2025, the night before Phish’s run in Boulder.

 

Holly Bowling – The Wilderness Sessions, Live From The Salt Flats