* Michael Holland is a North Carolina native, has a wife and son, and lives in Carrboro, NC. * Michael may be best known for his previous band, Jennyanykind, who from 1993 -2004 released the following acclaimed albums: Etc(No. 6), Blues of the Afflicted(No.6), Mythic(No.6), Revelater(Elektra), Big Johns(Yep Roc), I Need You(Yep Roc), Peas and Collards(MoRisen). * Tomorrows American Treasures is Michael's second solo release, the first on Sit-n-Spin Records. * The first solo release, Bootlegger's Dreams, initially written as a wedding gift, was self released on Big Johns Records, and was Michael's first attempt at seriously creating a modern Appalachian, or North Carolina sound, to fill a modern void of culture, and a personal one as well. As Michael said at the time, "Many people who play bluegrass and mountain music grow up playing it...they are forged by tradition and in doing so are bound to it as well. Well, that doesn't dilute the beauty of it, but there is the blood of it, and the soul of it as well. And that lies in the individual's heart. I didn't grow up around it living in a flatland town like Monroe. My grandmother was a Baptist preacher's daughter, and thought my grandfather's family, musicians who lived around Union Grove, NC, were heathens. She wouldn't let any of her children have anything to do with them. " About Bootlegger's Dreams, one reviewer noted: it is obvious that Bootlegger is not the bald-faced pastiche of traditional bluegrass music that it might seem. Rather, it is a subtle effort to capture the metaphysical rhythms and motion of Appalachia. From the outset it's clear this ain't your grandpa's Appalachia. At first blush this seems to reflect the influx of New Age culture into the hills over the course of the past twenty-five years or so -- the building Buddhist temples and hippie communes in places where Daniel Boone once "killed him some bars". But listen again: the pounding might as easily recollect an air-drill applied to a fresh coal seam in Kentucky, or a logger's steady chopping at the base of a she-balsam in North Carolina. The integration of theme and purpose make this a worthwhile listen. * It's this intention theme and purpose that separates Michael Holland from many of today's consumer oriented artists ...a breath of uniqueness, a musical orphan trying to get back home. In Tomorrow's American Treasures, Holland continues that journey, albeit under different circumstances. " I had ideas about recording, but didn't know when I would get a chance again. I was approached by a local bluegrass band, who had some songs they wanted to record, so I made a deal with them. I would record them for free, if, in exchange, they would record some of my music. I wasn't really sure how it would turn out, simply because I'm not really a traditional songwriter. I'm not a story teller. My ideas are more on the line of poetry, cyclical and abstract. I write about my perspective, even when I mask it, and maybe someone can relate." * Luckily for Holland, the band was a loose collective of local bluegrass hotshots with with wide ranging musical interests, the Big Fat Gap Bluegrass band, whose members include competition winners from Merlefest and Rocky Grass, and current and former members of Larry Keel, Trailer Bride, and Open Road, just to name a few. But this was no regular bluegrass recording. Says Holland,"Tomorrow's American Treasures is as much a rock, pop or jazz album, in theory at least, even though it may be classified as Americana, or roots. Lyrically, it could be a folk record. But, for example, on half of the songs, I didn't think I would get the results I wanted by spending a whole lot of time trying to teach them the song from beginning to end. I didn't even know that myself...so I just had them improvise variations on the melody through the different chord progressions of the song sections, relying on their improvisational skills, for about 10 minutes a song. I then went through and found very small snippets I liked, and looped them, and grouped them to make a complete song. The addition of organ also pushes the sound." * These forward looking ideas are expressed in songs like Crystal Meth Freak from California, Mountains of the Moon, Oh Pretty Polly, Look out for King Heartache, and Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring? But there is another side to the recording as well. A side that seems linked to the past, and grounded in the literature of folk and country. "I love the old folk recordings, and the humanity they represent. Someone singing about the realities of life, you know...and my music has always been, at least lyrically, about reality, or a direct escape with reference to a reality...and there's a direct message to the listener from the old public domain songs, and nothing has changed really since then, just the circumstances... there's no editing, no gloss, nothing but the singer and the song. So I got together with some of these guys, and recorded some songs absolutely live, in a way that I felt intuitively would complement the songs that called for it. There wasn't really any blatant intent. It all just kind of happened." Songs like Since I Lay My Burden Down, Lighten Up Angel, Lazy Summer Day, Nobody Loves Me, Nobody Cares, and Hungry Days echo this idea. * It's this contradiction in nature that helps to define Michael Holland as an artist. A musical wanderer moving forward but trying to get home. A writer of hard reality, but a romantic who continually wants to flee it. Someone unassuming enough to name a collection of songs in the future tense. Well, it couldn't come at a better time. As traditional music wonders if it can remain true to itself, as popular music spends mindlessly in corporate commercialism, and as the growth of crystal meth in American society is now making headlines, we are all constantly reminded of this same, eternal conflict of past, present, and future. Tomorrow's American Treasures will be promoted to both Americana and College radio, and to the UK, Netherlands, and Belgium radio stations as well. Promotion to press outlets will reflect the same line of thinking. Inquiries contact Sean McCrossin at Sit-Spin Records, 118 Estes Dr., Carrboro, NC 27510. (919)933-1124 sit-n-spin@att.net For information on Michael Holland shows, both solo, and with Big Fat Gap, and other information, please visit http://www.folkbomb.com. Other general technical data: Tomorrow's American Treasures was recorded primarily using mid-side mic configuration for a stereo sound, with some close micing on support instruments. Track #4 was recorded in front of a live audience at a show in Columbia, SC. Track #6 was recorded with one AKG C414 microphone in omni position all to hard disk. Tomorrows American Treasures Crystal Meth Freak From California Mountains of the Moon Oh Pretty Polly Since I Lay My Burden Down Lighten Up Angel Lazy Summer Day Look Out For King Heartache Nobody Loves Me, Nobody Cares Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring? Hungry Days