Holly Near

Vocalist, songwriter, actress, and activist Holly Near emerged as a central presence amid the ascent of the women's music movement throughout the 1970s while consistently advocating for music's capacity to advance social transformation. Drawing on training in both music and theater, Near first achieved recognition as an actress during the opening years of the 1970s, then redirected her energies toward songwriting that showcased her clear voice and gift for memorable melodies. After establishing her independent label, she issued her debut album, 1973's Hang in There, which centered primarily on the War in Vietnam, whereas feminist concerns permeated much of her output from that decade. The 1978 release Imagine My Surprise delivered an explicit celebration of the LGBTQ+ community prior to widespread adoption of that designation, and she addressed both intimate and societal matters on 1981's Fire in the Rain. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Near continued to perform with clear intent, whether alone or alongside such artists as folk icon Ronnie Gilbert on 1983's Lifeline or the Chilean ensemble Inti-Illimani on 1984's Sing to Me the Dream, while also venturing into mainstream pop textures on 1987's Don't Hold Back. Although activism claimed a larger share of her attention than recording during the 2000s, she maintained her practice of addressing issues through song on the expansive 2012 album Peace Becomes You and the topical 2018 set.

Holly Near was born in Ukiah, California on June 6, 1949 and passed much of her early years with her family on a ranch in nearby Potter Valley. Raised in a household that nurtured creativity, she first appeared before audiences at the age of ten by singing in a talent contest at a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall. While attending high school, Near cultivated an interest in acting through participation in school productions and took an initial step into activism by joining a student organization committed to altering the campus dress code. In 1965 she entered a folk singing group formed with three boys who patterned themselves after the Kingston Trio and the Weavers; the ensemble adopted the name the Freedom Singers without knowledge of the identically titled group created by members of the civil rights organization the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. After finishing high school in 1967, Near enrolled at UCLA and sustained her involvement in theater. During a female lead role in a production of Guys and Dolls she learned of nodules on her vocal chords and began voice lessons to employ her instrument more effectively. In 1969 she affiliated with the anti-war collective Another Mother for Peace and commenced performing material that protested American engagement in the Vietnam war alongside her sister Timothy Near. That same year Near secured a part in the film Angel, Angel Down We Go and soon became occupied with motion pictures and television while also appearing in the Broadway staging of the rock musical Hair. She further belonged to the short-lived musical ensemble 1st National Nothing, which recorded the album If You Sit Real Still and Hold My Hand, You Will Hear Absolutely Nothing for Columbia in 1970 before disbanding. In 1971 Near joined the cast of Free the Army, an activist entertainment troupe founded by Jane Fonda that staged performances off-base for soldiers across the United States and in the Pacific. Participation with the FTA collective sharpened Near's convictions regarding the significance of music within activism and the emerging women's movement. She began composing songs aligned with her convictions and captured them on disc, establishing the label Redwood Records to issue the material as a vehicle for politically engaged artists from the United States and beyond; her debut album Hang in There served as Redwood's inaugural release in 1973, followed by A Live Album in 1974.

Although feminism had already shaped Near's music since her period with Free the Army, she soon incorporated greater attention to the expanding Gay Rights movement, coming out as a lesbian in 1976 and disclosing a relationship with fellow women's music pioneer Cris Williamson. Near appeared at the inaugural Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, an event that would grow into a prominent annual celebration of women's rights and artistic expression. As Near's visibility increased, Redwood Records attained wider success and began issuing recordings by additional artists including Ferron, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Judy Small. Her 1978 album Imagine My Surprise featured songs that addressed her sexuality directly and received recognition as Best Independent Album of the Year from the Bay Area Music Awards. For 1981's Fire in the Rain she collaborated with producer June Millington, formerly of the pioneering all-female rock band Fanny; that same year Near also received a profile in People magazine, becoming one of the first openly lesbian performers featured in a mainstream entertainment publication. While dividing her schedule between music and efforts with anti-nuke organizations, Near managed to release Speed of Light in 1982. On 1983's Lifeline she joined forces with one of her formative influences, Ronnie Gilbert of the Weavers, and the pair promoted the project through a shared concert tour; they would tour together once more in 1984 for a Defeat Reagan Tour, and Near and Gilbert would additionally unite with Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie for an album and series of performances presented under the name HARP. The year 1984 further included a creative partnership when Near recorded the album Watch Out! with support from multi-instrumentalist John McCutcheon.

In 1984 Near mounted a concert tour alongside the Chilean leftist folk ensemble Inti-Illimani, generating the album Sing to Me the Dream from the performances. She received a nomination for 1985's Woman of the Year honors from Ms. magazine and hosted the first Redwood Records Music Festival. Near and Ronnie Gilbert reunited for the collaborative album Singing with You in 1986, the same year the Women's Foundation bestowed its "Woman of Note" award upon her for her work as a musical activist. The 1987 release Don't Hold Back saw Near experimenting with pop-oriented arrangements and production and featured a guest vocal from Kenny Loggins on "The Promise (How Can Anybody Know)." On July 7, 1989 Near received a distinctive tribute when San Francisco mayor Art Agnos declared the date Holly Near Day in the city; that year also brought the album Sky Dances. Her subsequent album Singer in the Storm appeared as a live recording containing a guitar guest appearance by Melissa Etheridge and was issued by Chameleon Records, marking her first project for a label other than Redwood.

Near composed and mounted the one-woman show Fire in the Rain, which premiered in Los Angeles in 1993. She also presented the show in New York City and San Francisco, with the latter production earning an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Bay Area Theater Critics Circle. An album compiling musical excerpts from the production appeared in 1993 and proved among her final releases for Redwood, which ceased operations in the mid-1990s. Near and Ronnie Gilbert undertook another concert tour documented on the 1996 album This Train Still Runs, released by Abbe Alice Music. In 1997 Near launched the new label Calico Tracks Music to issue her recordings, inaugurating the imprint with With a Song in My Heart, a collection of love songs from the 1930s and 1940s. The 2000 release Simply Love: The Women's Music Collection assembled feminist-themed material drawn from Near's catalog spanning 1974 onward. Later that year she issued Edge, a strongly political album comprising eight new original songs together with five pertinent covers. Appleseed Recordings, the folk label that had reissued select out-of-print Redwood titles, brought out another politically charged collection, 2001's Early Warnings, consisting chiefly of material she had written during the 1980s amid the AIDS crisis, the presidency of Ronald Reagan, and the ascent of the new conservative movement. Appleseed also released HARP: A Time to Sing in 2001, presenting a complete performance by Near, Gilbert, Guthrie, and Seeger captured in 1984. Calico Tracks issued further thematic compilations from Near's catalog in 2002: And Still We Sing: The Outspoken Collection and Crushed: The Love Song Collection. An expanded reissue of Lifeline appeared from Appleseed the same year.

In 2003 Near and her longtime friend and former partner Cris Williamson entered the studio to create new songs and revisit earlier favorites, resulting in the album Cris and Holly. From the 2000s forward Near devoted greater portions of her time and effort to activism while remaining an advocate for human rights and social justice, yet she continued to perform and record. The 2006 album Show Up concentrated on both personal and political material, and 2009's We Came to Sing! found her collaborating with the vocal group Emma's Revolution. The ambitious 29-song set Peace Becomes You in 2012 gathered songs of conscience from her own catalog alongside pieces written by artists as diverse as Irving Berlin, Jacques Brel, Keb' Mo', and Gnarls Barkley. Her album 2018, released that same year, confronted subjects including domestic violence, bullying in schools, and Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.