Pop Quiz: Catching up with Jolie Holland and Samantha Parton.
Jolie Holland and Samantha Parton started performing together some 20 years ago as founding members of the Be Good Tanyas, a revered folk trio from Vancouver, British Columbia. Having set off on solo careers shortly after recording the group’s first album, the pair find their way back together as a duo on “Wildflower Blues.” Parton was recovering from a couple of car accidents and a brain aneurysm when Holland, a Texas native and former San Francisco resident, called her up last year to reconnect for the album, which revels in their deep-rooted love of folk, blues and jazz.
Q: You have mentioned that a lot of this album was inspired by Bob Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline.” So which one of you is Dylan and who’s Johnny Cash? Samantha Parton: I think we might have a bit of both in us. The whole “Are we rolling, Bob” line — I can relate to that. Holland: Samantha used to have a band called the Illegitimate Daughters of Johnny Cash. Q: What is it about the spirit of that album that informed your album? Parton: We like the spontaneity and looseness of that album. There was a lot of filler on that record too, which was helpful for not stressing too much about what we were
laying down and being in the moment. Q: I disagree, but get what you’re saying. Holland: There’s total filler on that record! Parton: That record was basically my childhood. There’s the “Nashville Skyline Rag,” which was the impetus for “Gooseberry Rag” on “Wildflower Blues.” We thought, why not throw this crazy instrumental on our album? Holland: We had four minutes left on tape and that song took four minutes to record. Q: This all started with a phone call out of the blue. Did you feel there was some unfinished business after the Be Good Tanyas? Parton: The relationship that Jolie and I had since we met in the late ’90s, it was so much more than your average musician hangout. We became really good friends and we kind of grew up together through the Tanyas and the seed that was planted with that band. I didn’t really know when we would get the chance to work together again. There were no plans. Q: Do you regret leaving the Be Good Tanyas? Holland: Absolutely not. I don’t regret anything. Q: Samantha, you were recovering from two car accidents when Jolie called? Parton: I was kind of in this weird, crazy, bleak wilderness of health problems. I was in a bad car accident in 2012, then six months later, another one. Six months after that, I had brain surgery for a brain aneurysm. It was a difficult and weird and lonely time when I got the call from Jolie. I felt like it was like, “This is how you’re going to get your life back.” I felt every part of me, despite being fearful, was, I had to say yes. Q: Were you aware of her health problems when you made the call? Holland: I absolutely knew. Sam said, “I can’t believe you’re so supportive.” It’s such a nobrainer. Parton: We approached this record like, “We’re going to sit down and make some music together and let the chips fall the way they may.” We came to this project with almost nothing and we just sat in a room together. We weren’t talking about what’s going to sell; we were letting the music be music.