A Conversation with Jolie Holland (continued)

PM: What about that Enzo Garcia and his musical saw? What's he all about?

JH: He's a brilliant player. I mean, he's mostly a banjo player. He plays banjo on "I Wanna Die" on Catalpa.

PM: Right, yes. Now, is he mostly an old-timey guy, or a claw hammer guy?

JH: Actually, no, he does more bluegrass style. I don't think he does any claw hammer, actually. He was in a bluegrass band that won a really prestigious award at some kind of Colorado festival?

PM: Uh-huh. Rocky Mountain something, it slips my mind at the moment.

JH: Yeah, something like that. And then he used to be in Nashville. He was trying to get it all off the ground in Nashville. He thought they were sort of racist.

PM: Nashville?

JH: Yeah. That's what he came away with.

PM: Well, there might be something to that. Why, is he black?

JH: No, he's Argentinean.

PM: That's a fabulous first name for an Argentinean, Enzo.

JH: Isn't it? I think that's Italian. But anyway, he's a songwriter, and he's got a really beautiful sound. He plays everything. He's a great accordion player, and one of the most precise clear saw players I've ever heard.

PM: Oh, yeah, his intonation on that solo was frighteningly good. [Check out our clip on the Listen page.]

JH: Yeah. [laughs]

PM: And then the way he got microtonal as well--he's just really something. Does Enzo have a band in the city? He's not part of your touring outfit, right?

JH: No. He went on tour with me a few months ago. But let me see, he's got his own thing. He's doing kids music now.

PM: Wow.

JH: He actually does a song that Brian Miller wrote, who's in my band. He does a kids song that Brian Miller wrote. Enzo's doing well as a musician. [Find out more about him at www.enzogarcia.com.]

PM: So I liked the way that Brian Miller, in the ANTI records bio, is referred to as a Zen guitarist.

JH: Actually, he's in the room right now, and he's actually practicing Zazen right now [sitting meditation usually associated with Zen Buddhism, as we understand it].

PM: Excellent. [some Brian details here]

JH: Everybody in my band is so... Nobody drinks at all. Everybody is so temperate. There's been three drinks consumed on this entire tour, and it was me.

PM: What kind of guitars or amps is Brian playing on the CD?

JH: On Escondida--well, Lemon is a great rock 'n' roll harmonica player, and he's just kind of a cool gear head. He's got all this beautiful equipment. He's got an Echoplex--and he's got this beautiful amp, this Hummingbird Gibson amp.

PM: Oh, the old Gibsons are so nice, for sure.

JH: So that's what Brian's using on Escondida. And he's got an Epiphone guitar.

PM: I'm going to go back to "Darlin' Ukelele" and listen to what he's doing there, try to get into more of what he's doing. Now I get that he may be the secret ingredient in a lot of these songs, probably.

JH: Yeah, he just puts this kind of glowy sound on there, and this really beautiful melodic support in that song.

PM: What about the fancy studio up in Forestville? Do we know what mics were in play, or any of that technical type information?

JH: Everything's vintage, everything is amazing. The board is, like, a Neve from England, from the 70s. It's just a super high quality operation. It's called In The Pocket. [Tom] Waits recorded his last two records there.

PM: I might know these guys up in Forestville. It's Gregory somebody, you say?

JH: Gregory Haldan. [Find out more about In The Pocket studios at www.inthepocketproductions.com.]

PM: Do you know if those were the guys who used to have what was called Prairie Sun up in Cotati?

JH: No, different guys. continue

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