Beaver Creek, Colo., Dec. 10, 2021 — Pianist Holly Bowling and Guitarist Tom Hamilton are known for conversing on stages throughout the country through their instruments, creating an intimate improvisation each and every show.
Tom Hamilton is a songwriter, musician, and producer best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the bands Brothers Past, American Babies, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Bill Kreutzmann’s Billy & the Kids and Electron.
Whether behind the piano on mountainous cliff, at a hallowed venue such as Carnegie Hall, or playing shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the most legendary musicians in history, solo pianist Holly Bowling subverts convention with virtuosic playing, emotional immersion, and a thirst for invention. In 2015, she arrived as an exciting outlier on Distillation Of A Dream: The Music Of Phish Reimagined For Solo Piano. As her profile rose, she delivered Better Left Unsung only a year later. For this triple-LP, she re-arranged iconic moments from the Grateful Dead on her piano. She went on to share the stage with everyone from The Dead’s Bob Weir and Phil Lesh to Warren Haynes, John Scofield, Jim James, Branford Marsalis, Don Was, Robert Randolph, Greensky Bluegrass, and more.
Along the way, she graced the bills of Lesh’s Terrapin Crossroads and Haynes’s annual Christmas Jam and unveiled the concert recording Live at the Old Church. In 2020, she launched a series of living room livestreams chronicled on the eight-volume Alone Together: The Living Room Sessions highlighted by her innovative re-imaginings of Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, and many others. Bowling has received acclaimed from Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Relix to name just a few.
On “Lacuna,” their first duo recording together released in November, Hamilton and Bowling explore the outer limits of improvisation through a series of ambient excursions that showcase their powerful musical connection.
“We’ve never talked about our playing, like, ever,” Hamilton said. “It’s never something that we’ve had to speak about,” Bowling added.
The two met at a small festival in Maryland in 2016 when Hamilton invited Bowling to sit in on keys with his then-band American Babies.
“It’s always really fun when you play with someone for the first time and you feel like you’re instantly speaking the same language,” Bowling said.
Lacuna means “a gap, an unfilled space, or an intentional, extended passage in a musical work during which no notes are played” – a place where Hamilton and Bowling enjoy being and creating magic through improvisation. The title came from one of the many books Bowling read during quarantine.
It’s a fitting title, considering Bowling and Hamilton are both renowned for their music they spontaneously create onstage, filling the gaps within composed songs.
“I’ve felt more and more comfortable in those in-between spaces,” Bowling said. “That’s really where I’ve been wanting to spend my time, and with this project, that’s the entire thing.”
Upcoming performances at the VPAC also include Christmas with The 5 Browns (Dec. 21); Rhythmic Circus Holiday Shuffle (Dec. 27); Josh Turner – Holidays & The Hit (Dec. 28); and The Doo Wop Project – Holidays in Harmony (Dec. 29); among others.
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If you go …
What: Lacuna: Tom Hamilton & Holly Bowling
When: Saturday, Dec. 18, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek
Cost: $28
More information: Visit www.vilarpac.org/tom-hamilton-and-holly-bowling.
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About VPAC:
Located in the heart of Colorado’s Beaver Creek Resort, the Vilar Performing Arts Center is a 535-seat theatre, operated by the Vail Valley Foundation, which presents a variety of year-round performances including Broadway musicals, concerts, family entertainment, comedy, dance, classical music and more. Visit vilarpac.org for more.
About the Vail Valley Foundation
The Vail Valley Foundation is a 501c3 Colorado nonprofit corporation with a mission to enhance the quality of life in the Vail Valley and showcase our community to a global audience through arts, athletics and education.
The organization’s work in education is through YouthPower365, a 501c3 Colorado nonprofit corporation with a mission to provide year-round extended learning opportunities that empower and educate the youth and families of Eagle County from cradle-to-career readiness. The Vail Valley Foundation also provides the Vail Valley with several of its most treasured annual events, such as the GoPro Mountain Games, the Xfinity Birds of Prey Audi FIS Ski World Cup races, the Vail Dance Festival, and the Hot Summer Nights and ShowDown Town free concert series. The Vail Valley Foundation also manages and operates two performing arts centers, the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek Village and the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail, providing more than 100 Broadway, dance, comedy, classical, rock, pop, jazz, community and family events per year.
Vail Valley Foundation activities and events are in part made possible by cornerstone partners: the Town of Vail, Vail Resorts, Beaver Creek Resort Company, GMC, and TIAA Bank.
To learn more about the Vail Valley Foundation visit www.vvf.org.