Eva Holbrook

My interview with the amazing Eva Holbrook.

How old were you when you stared singing and playing mandolin?

I was 10 when I started playing Mandolin, and 16 when I started singing. 

Which artists inspired you when you were starting out, and still inspires you today?

Chris Thile was a big inspiration, my dad used to buy his music books and lesson dvds to cheer me along each birthday. I really enjoyed those. Imogen Heap and Enya were my singing heroes. I’ve always had a soft voice and they made that seem like a magic power. 

If it were possible and you could cover any song with the original artist singing along with you, what would it be?

Going to California with Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones. 

Could you tell the reader about the band SHEL you are a part of with your sisters?

The sisterhood itself was founded in 1993 when our youngest sister Liza was born. The band was founded in 2001. It’s a joy to be a part of both. 

I love the song by SHEL "Lost At Sea." Could you tell us about filming the video and your time in Belfast?

Belfast felt like coming home. Filming at the Dunluce Castle was a dream, though we almost got stranded by the tide coming in, which lead to me climbing a cliff wall barefoot in a large torn up wedding gown. 

What have you been working on lately and what would you like the reader to check out?  

We’re hard at work on the next SHEL album which is very exciting, you can check out our Instagram to hear how it’s coming along. We’ve just finished filming a music video for our upcoming single in Vrindavan India to help raise awareness for the plight of widows in that area. I’m dabbling in a bit of traditional folk and Irish music as I prepare to launch a solo project called Lady Moon. SHEL’s album should be out sometime this summer, and Lady Moon will debut in 2020. 

Blunt

An old friend of mine

I’ve known for thirty years

Told me

I was blunt the other day

He then said

It was one of the reasons

He has remained friends

With me

For so long

He knew exactly where

He stood with me

At all times!

I was surprised by this

I said, I thought I believed

I was careful

With people’s feelings

My wife then joined in

The conversation

“You thought you were

a sugar coater?”

A smile then pulled gently

Across her face

His wife chuckled

“You’re no sugar coater!”

I spent the next few hours

Pondering all this

Like Archimedes

Pondering Physics

I wondered

What people would think

If I didn’t try to sugar coat

My words?

A few days later

And

Hours into a day

Of

Dealing with customers

A coworker said to me

As her brow

Slowly moved upwards

“You don’t have to be

antagonistic with the customers”

I said,

“I’m not.”

“But I’m also not promising them

unicorns and rainbows”

From my book, When The Cedars Shade Your Grave

My Bird’s Shadow

There’s a mockingbird

That sings so loudly

At times

It’s hard

To get

Anything done

Like a shadow

It’s always beside me

Fluttering just out of reach

With a keen eye

She watches

All that’s around her

Mimicking

All that she hears

But some days

I know she struggles

Like me

So sensitive

So caring

The slightest things

Can affect her songs

Her chirp

Becomes barely a whisper

Like a flower

Closing its petals

Not thriving

From

Too much

Or

Too little

Good times

Or

Dark days of sorrow

The scales

Are sometimes

Hard to balance

Heavily swayed

By

The weight of the world

But the mocking bird

Keeps singing

And

So shall I

With words

On this paper

I will write

Memories of people

And

Places

That have come and gone

In my life!

For

Some friendships

Are

As short as a season

Dropping from me

Like a leaf

From a tree

In autumn

Falling

After its last burst

Of

Bright color!

Yet

The written word

Lives on

Long after memories are gone

And I think

As the bird

Flies away

Into

The dark distance of dusk

Who will drop away from me now

And

What words will I write

To remember them?

From my book, When The Cedars Shade Your Grave

Angel Tears

Oh

Will it ever stop raining?

Will the angels

Ever stop crying?

At least

Long enough for the sun

To

Shine!

So my tools

Will

Stop rusting

So my tools

Will

Start working

Because

The dollar is slim

On these

Long wet days

When you make a living

Working in the dirt!

Too much rain

Is far from refreshing

When the crops

Sour

In the fields

When

The mud soaked ground

Can no longer

Sustain them

When the ditches

That need

To be dug for a paycheck

Collapse from

Rushing water!

The car washers

The landscapers

The irrigation men

The roofers

Are all out of work

On days like today!

So

Here I now sit

Looking out the window

Into the black and blue clouds

With their

Thundering roars

And

Heavy sounds

Like Gaye Advert’s Bass Guitar

Rumbling its riffs on stage!

I sit watching flashes of light

And

Small pieces of ice

Fall from the sky

These angel tears

Have become

My judge

My jury

On

Days like today!

White crookneck cranes

March in procession

Off in the distance

Palm trees sag and drip

On their ends like hair

On a sheepdog!

Still waiting 

I think back

On

The drought years

How miserable

They were!

How they

Snuck upon us

Like a thief

Like a pickpocket

Stealing moisture

From the landscape

The sun scorched

All in its path

Relentless waves of heat

Turned

Crops in the fields

Lifeless and brown

Roasting them

Under the burning sun

Day after day

We watched

The earth dry up

It cracked and flaked

Like dead skin

Then blew in the lonely wind

Blew over equipment

Blew over rented out land

Blew over barbwire fence-lines

And

Cattle moaning for food

Then shadows crept in

And covered the ground

As clouds

Finally started to form

The windmill creaked

As the cool wind picked up

Then the rain came

And

Gave us relief

If only there was a balance

Too much

Too little

Can affect many

That depend on the weather

To survive

From my book, When The Cedars Shade Your Grave

Grunts

An old boss of mine

Once told me

“I work to pay you!”

I speculate

If you’ve come from nothing

And

Are struggling to

Make your way in this world

You’ve probably heard

Something similar! 

It seems to be

A favorite saying

Amongst business folks

To the grunts they hire!

Instinctively they sense the ones

Desperate for a paycheck

They know these folks

Will take all the abuse

Dished out to them

With a smile!

I say this with conviction

For

I’ve seen it happen several times

Over the past 30 years!

Not every owner is this way

But

The ones who are

Can be hard on the mind!

Yet

The soul grows stronger

With every promotional promise

Fed to it

Then taken away!

Every condescending remark

Lobbed at it!

Yes

The soul grows stronger!

Then there’s the owners

That have

Overseers

Managers  

That do their bidding for them!

The owner’s outside appearance

Seems as asleep and peaceful

As a Charles Perrault character

But they’re not asleep

And

Their actions or inactions

Have nothing

To do with the word, “beauty!”   

After a few decades

Of

Working these kinds of jobs

Your spirit will be unbreakable

Or

Broken!  

For years I drifted  

From

One dead-end job to another

Like Richard Kimble

In “The Fugitive”

I didn’t stick around long

When things became too much

My spirit would not allow it!

Make enough to survive and write

Was good enough for me!

Writing was what I was

Put here to do

My commitment

To the written word

To the craft of language

Was all that mattered

So every day after work

I would begin

A night of writing

Bringing characters to life

Collecting my thoughts

Like a child

Collecting their toys!

Looking back

I remember the truly good people

I’ve worked side by side with

And

I remember the bad!

I see how fast it’s all gone by

Like trains I now hear

Running in the distance

Outside my window

Their sounds disappear

Into the darkness of night

Like I soon will do

Falling asleep

While lost in the thoughts

Of

Today and the days gone by!

From my book, When The Cedars Shade Your Grave

This World

This world

Is made by us

Absolutely

Lived by us

No one

But us!

Choices…

What will we choose?

Will we listen to

The all-knowing

Of

The norm?

The average?

Or

Will we listen

To our dreams?

Our hearts?

I say

Listen to our dreams

And

Listen to the dreamers

Listen to the words whispered

By the poets of the past

The poets of today

Take hold of your dreams

They’re speaking to you

And

Only you!

LISTEN TO THEM!!!

So many live

With thoughts and hopes

Of

The next life

Being the grandest

The mind can imagine

Or living with

Fears of forecasted fiery flames

In the hereafter

Without ever living this life!

Stop living with, the what if?

Simply start living!

For

If you spend a lifetime

Without opening your mind

Your mind

Will be

Just as asleep

In the next world

And

All the streets

Paved of gold

Will mean nothing

All the riches will be

As wanted as

30 pieces of silver to Judas

Once the rope tightened

And

His last breath was gone!

Find the true riches in this life

By being alive in it

Not just going through it

Hoping things will be better

In the next!

From my book, When The Cedars Shade Your Grave