Revisiting Welcome to the New Depression: Song by Darryl Holter
To write a song about the state of today’s economy I thought it would be useful to look at how other songwriters wrote about the Great Depression in the 1930s. The famous Carter Family had a very popular song called "No Depression in Heaven". It reflected the fears of many religious leaders and their followers that the Depression might be a signal that the end of the world was coming, that the “latter days” had arrived and we would soon be facing the final Day of Judgment.
California Stars, a visit to California and Los Angeles through postcards
Colorful postcards illustrate the promotion of the West; of California; and Los Angeles and the southern California region from the 1880s to the 1950s. Betty Uyeda is one of the most creative friends I have known. After a distinguished career as an Archivist at the Seaver Center at the Natural History Museum, Betty has created videos for her Los Angeles Revisited YouTube channel and Instagram. This is one of her most recent videos that features a beautiful set of century-old postcards that are a point of entry into Los Angeles history. To provide a musical background, Betty chose 'California Stars', ... [Read More]
The Backroom Series Volume 2: Meeting and Leaving
About The Backroom Series Volume 2: Meeting and Leaving These songs tell little stories of meeting someone interesting for the first time or leaving someone painfully for the very last time; of happily reconciling with your girl after she returns from a business trip or sadly saying goodbye when you are drafted into the Army; or in the case of Woody Guthrie, leaving the parched town of Pampa, Texas for the crowded, but exciting streets of Downtown Los Angeles in 1937. About The Backroom Series: Unreleased, Unfinished Tracks I have been playing the guitar, singing, and writing songs since ... [Read More]
On The Road with Darryl Holter: Watch the JC Whitney Interview
Welcome to JC Whitney's "On The Road" Podcast! Join us as Darryl Holter shares his journey growing up around cars and insights from his new book, featuring a foreword by Jay Leno. Darryl talks about how LA’s car culture was sparked by visionary entrepreneurs and risk-takers. Learn about the bicycle shop owners who began selling and repairing cars, the carriage retailers, and the automobile enthusiasts who turned the idea of a horseless carriage from a novelty into a necessity, expanding the automobile industry when few believed it would last. And at the end of his interview, Darryl takes out his ... [Read More]
The Backroom Series Volume 1: Voyages through Time and Space
About The Backroom Series: Unreleased, Unfinished Tracks I have been playing the guitar, singing, and writing songs since I was a kid growing up in Minneapolis. My father, a self-taught guitar player, showed me how to play basic guitar chords and tried to instruct me to read music. But I was impatient and started playing songs by ear, based on what I heard on records and KEVE, the country station, and WDGY, the “modern radio” station that played rock-and-roll. Since 2008 I have recorded about 40 of songs on five albums (available on Bandcamp.com), working with some great musicians and ... [Read More]
On the passing of Spider John Koerner
I was really saddened to learn that John Koerner had died. He was an extremely talented guitarist and folksinger who was a mentor to young Bob Dylan and a fixture in the music scene in Minneapolis, especially on the West Bank (of the Mississippi River). John was the last of the original three-some (including Dave Ray and Tony Glover) that recorded the path-breaking "Blues, Rags, and Hollers" album. He was low-key and down-home in a quiet Minnesota way, but he was very accessible, and I used to see him a lot and talk with him frequently when I lived on ... [Read More]
The Los Angeles New Year’s Flood of 1934
Ninety years ago, on New Years Eve, a powerful thunderstorm swept through the San Gabriel Mountains. It unleashed a violent flood of water, rocks, and mud that roared down the canyons, uprooted trees, destroyed homes, swept away cars, and resulted in nearly a hundred deaths. Five years later Woody Guthrie wrote a song about the flood and performed it on his radio show on KFVD. I rearranged and recorded the song for my album, Radio Songs: Woody Guthrie in Los Angeles, while doing research for my book on Woody Guthrie. My work was aided by the Seaver Center for Western ... [Read More]
New Book By Darryl Holter: Driving Force: Automobiles and the New American City, 1900–1930
New Book Reveals L.A.’s Incredible Impact on the Early Auto Industry Click Here for all Driving Force Events and News Driving Force: Automobiles and the New American City, 1900–1930 is the First Major History of Car Dealers at Work LOS ANGELES —Have you ever wondered how and why Los Angeles became so obsessed with cars? While historians and sociologists have provided numerous explanations, little or no credit has been given to the dealers, who ventured into unknown territory to sell a product regarded by nearly all banks and most businesses as a fad at best. Released on May 9, 2023, ... [Read More]
Julia Holter Unveils Score for The Passion of Joan of Arc
Julia is in the UK to lead performances of the score she composed for the incredible 1928 silent film, The Passion of Joan of Arc. Her original score was performed in Los Angeles in 2017 and was scheduled to be performed at the Huddersfeld Contemporary Festival in 2020 until Covid struck and the event was cancelled for two years. Attached are reviews from The Times of London and The Guardian. This is not Julia’s first time with film work. She organized the music Bleed for This (2016), a film based on a true story starring Miles Teller as Vinny "The Pazmanian ... [Read More]
Back In The Saddle Again
Oliver Holter, my father, died this week at the age of 100. I was with him on September 1 for his 100th birthday. He died peacefully in his sleep under the loving care of my sister, Cyndy and niece, Kiera. Here is Dad’s obituary and a section from a book I wrote for him to commemorate his 80th birthday. Dad introduced me to music as a child and taught me how to play guitar. -DH From OLLIE80: Memories of My Father and I (2002) By Darryl Holter Like a lot of young boys, I was attracted to cowboys. My mother ... [Read More]
Darryl Holter grew up playing the guitar and singing country and rock and roll songs in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His current brand of Americana music draws from country, blues and folk traditions and often tells stories about people, places and events.