Holly Golightly
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Yes, her namesake is a character in a Truman Capote novel, and yes, she sang a duet with Jack White on The White Stripes’ Elephant. But there’s a lot more to Holly Golightly than those two overexposed facts: Golightly’s multi-album career stretches back to the early ’90s and the all-girl garage outfit Thee Headcoatees. On this year’s solo album, Dirt Don’t Hurt, the British singer-guitarist works with multi-instrumentalist Lawyer Dave—billed as The Brokeoffs—for the duo’s second joint effort. Its passionate, record-collection-fueled blend of sleazy blues, R&B, and folk has been Golightly’s calling card for years. Having recently relocated from Great Britain to rural Georgia, Golightly is back on the road and singing the blues and appears at the Larimer Lounge tonight.
Decider: You seem to have an affinity with the South and its musical history.
Holly Golightly: Absolutely, yes. I don't know an awful lot about country music, but I have a lot of Southern soul in my record collection. I’ve been collecting records for a long time; the most part of it is ’50s R&B and ’60s soul, and a lot of that comes from the South.
D: Over the years you’ve drawn on that collection to record dozens of cover songs. How do you choose what you’re going to cover?
HG: You certainly shouldn’t cover a song because you think you could do it better. It’s pretty unlikely that that’s going to happen. Sometimes I’ve done covers because it’s fun to do with a bunch of friends that love that song, too. There are lots of different reasons. It’s never because I thought I was going to do a better version than the original. Anything but that, really.
D: You’ve admitted you never wanted to be a singer or a songwriter, and it just sort of happened. Do you think that affects your outlook on your career?
HG: I only make music because I like doing it, primarily. I still have fun doing it and playing with my friends, all the same reasons I started in the first place. All that sort of remained the same. I didn’t start out terribly ambitious. I’m not very competitive. I like to just truck along at my own speed. Obviously, I’ve found my own speed with this. I’ve done this at the rate I wanted to do it, if and when I wanted to do it.
D: Dave uses a one-man-band contraption that lets him drum, play guitar, and sing at the same time. Is it fun to play with something so unusual like that on stage?
HG: Yeah, I think we’re the only two-man one-man band on the circuit. I can’t think of any others. [Laughs.] We thought it was ridiculous to start with; we didn't know what it was going to be like when we first did a three-week tour up and down the East Coast. For the first couple of nights, I couldn’t look at [Dave’s contraption]. It was too ridiculous! I don’t really think about it anymore. [Laughs.] I think what he sounds like rises above the ridiculousness of it.
D: Despite the influences that come through on your albums, you’ve managed to maintain a consistent sound over the years. How has that worked?
HG: Oh, God, I have no idea. I can only do what I can do. I suppose that less is more. Musically, I’m not particularly technical. I play various instruments; I think an awful lot of my own stuff, aside from cover songs, is written where I’ll be playing standup bass and not guitar when I come up with the original idea. That adds a flavor to it in the first place. Obviously, when I come to record it, I get someone who can play it really well. [Laughs.] Other than that, I’ve just stuck to what I know. I’m a creature of habit, I suppose. That’s how I’ve managed to maintain consistency. I haven’t really learned anything in all the time I’ve been doing it. [Laughs.]
Holly Golightly: Absolutely, yes. I don't know an awful lot about country music, but I have a lot of Southern soul in my record collection. I’ve been collecting records for a long time; the most part of it is ’50s R&B and ’60s soul, and a lot of that comes from the South.
D: Over the years you’ve drawn on that collection to record dozens of cover songs. How do you choose what you’re going to cover?
HG: You certainly shouldn’t cover a song because you think you could do it better. It’s pretty unlikely that that’s going to happen. Sometimes I’ve done covers because it’s fun to do with a bunch of friends that love that song, too. There are lots of different reasons. It’s never because I thought I was going to do a better version than the original. Anything but that, really.
D: You’ve admitted you never wanted to be a singer or a songwriter, and it just sort of happened. Do you think that affects your outlook on your career?
HG: I only make music because I like doing it, primarily. I still have fun doing it and playing with my friends, all the same reasons I started in the first place. All that sort of remained the same. I didn’t start out terribly ambitious. I’m not very competitive. I like to just truck along at my own speed. Obviously, I’ve found my own speed with this. I’ve done this at the rate I wanted to do it, if and when I wanted to do it.
D: Dave uses a one-man-band contraption that lets him drum, play guitar, and sing at the same time. Is it fun to play with something so unusual like that on stage?
HG: Yeah, I think we’re the only two-man one-man band on the circuit. I can’t think of any others. [Laughs.] We thought it was ridiculous to start with; we didn't know what it was going to be like when we first did a three-week tour up and down the East Coast. For the first couple of nights, I couldn’t look at [Dave’s contraption]. It was too ridiculous! I don’t really think about it anymore. [Laughs.] I think what he sounds like rises above the ridiculousness of it.
D: Despite the influences that come through on your albums, you’ve managed to maintain a consistent sound over the years. How has that worked?
HG: Oh, God, I have no idea. I can only do what I can do. I suppose that less is more. Musically, I’m not particularly technical. I play various instruments; I think an awful lot of my own stuff, aside from cover songs, is written where I’ll be playing standup bass and not guitar when I come up with the original idea. That adds a flavor to it in the first place. Obviously, when I come to record it, I get someone who can play it really well. [Laughs.] Other than that, I’ve just stuck to what I know. I’m a creature of habit, I suppose. That’s how I’ve managed to maintain consistency. I haven’t really learned anything in all the time I’ve been doing it. [Laughs.]
