Holly Nelson

Item: Leaving The Yard
Author: Justin Brinker

Leaving The Yard

(2002)

Reviewed by Justin Brinker

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Label Northern RecordsDecapolisMarch 2004

alternative country folk rock singer-songwriter

I have a confession to make: I have never been a fan of female fronted bands or female singer/songwriters. Sure, there have been the occasional bands like Morella's Forest and The Cranberries that I have enjoyed throughout the years--but nothing has turned my head in quite a while.

So, I was skeptical when I received 'Leaving The Yard', the latest release from Holly Nelson. My skepticism was laid to rest the minute the opening track; 'Seatbelt' hit my ears with its acoustic guitar, big keyboard sound, and beautiful vocals. Holly Nelson refers to Emmy Lou Harris as her biggest musical influence, and several songs on the album reflect that influence. On songs like 'Hey Ranger', you can clearly hear the Emmy Lou Harris influence driven by the piano, acoustic guitar and even some steel guitar. On other tracks like 'Easy', 'Masterpiece', and 'Spring Cleaning', there is more of a guitar driven rock sound. Each song still has its own identity. While many albums can fall victim to sounding too much like the same long song, this album does exactly the opposite. Each song separates itself from the other without sounding too eclectic. How can you go wrong with Frank Lenz on drums to round out an already extremely talented backing band?

Nelson's lyrics are personal without being trite. In 'Maybe Grace', she sings 'earthbound minds are too small, we make a mess and need somebody to fall'. On 'Rhyme and Reason' she claims, 'we didn't know it would be this hard to find the broken board and leave the yard'. To top things off, she does a very good cover of Tom Petty's 'I Won't Back Down'.

Holly Nelson has created a warm and friendly record that invites the listener to sing along or simply listen.

3/4