The Holmes Brothers deliver a singular fusion of gospel-tinged R&B vocal harmonies, anchored by crisp drumming and rhythm-driven guitar lines, producing an earthy rural resonance unmatched by any other roots-music ensemble on the road. At the center stand brothers Sherman Holmes and Wendell Holmes alongside drummer Popsy Dixon, whose falsetto leads one of the three-part vocal blends that the trio executes with equal strength whether performing as a unit or augmented by extra players for select dates.
That same stylistic breadth keeps the group fully scheduled each summer on folk, blues, gospel, and jazz festival stages, where their sets mix church music, blues, country, funk, reggae, roots rock, and soul into a single continuous stream. Early on, Wendell and Sherman absorbed the approaches of Bo Diddley and, most strongly, Jimmy Reed, yet gospel remained a formative element in both their upbringings.
Although they had already logged years performing in Harlem, the Holmes Brothers, who grew up in Christchurch, Virginia, stepped onto the international touring circuit only in more recent decades. A straightforward agreement with Rounder Records yielded five albums that began with the 1989 release In the Spirit. Momentum from that recording carried them onto festivals and clubs across the United States and Europe, prompting the follow-ups Where It's At in 1991, Soul Street in 1993, and Promised Land in 1997.
Peter Gabriel’s interest further expanded their reach when he booked them for his WOMAD world-music festivals in England and documented their gospel performances on the 1992 album Jubilation for his Real World label, a subsidiary of Virgin Records. Joan Osborne also became a steadfast ally; after befriending the Holmes Brothers early in her own career, she enlisted them as her backing band for the 1997 dates on which she opened for Bob Dylan and later produced their first Alligator Records album, Speaking in Tongues, issued in 2001.
The group continued with the landmark Simple Truths in 2004. Three years later State of Grace appeared, containing both new material and interpretations of songs associated with Hank Williams, Cheap Trick, Lyle Lovett, and Elvis Costello. Their fourth Alligator release, Feed My Soul, reached stores early in 2010.
