2024 Night Stage Performers
Friday, November 8, 7:30 PM
Joy Clark
Saturday, November 9, 7:30 PM
Holly Near
Friday Evening:
Joy Clark
“Joy Clark is a supremely talented musician and artist. I’ve loved collaborating with her onstage and just like her name suggests, she spreads nothing but joy everywhere she goes!” – Brandi Carlile
Who is crashing the Americana music charts with her New Orleans-based brand of soulful, real music?
Joy Clark’s songcraft, paired with sophisticated progressions, and themes of freedom, love and self-acceptance gained her notice on the national folk and Americana scenes just a few years ago with appearances at Americanafest. She caught the attention of Grammy-winner Allison Russell and was offered a regular spot in her backing band The Rainbow Coalition, earning her the chance to jam with superstars Brandi Carlile and the Indigo Girls. Talking to The Tennessean, Russell described Joy as a “a brilliant artist, writer and singer.”
“Joy shines out as a singer and player in our shared community of New Orleans. We are proud to share this most tender new music from her and more to come.” -Ani DiFranco
“Joy Clark is hands down one of our favorite musicians making music now.” -SistaStrings
“[At shows] I sometimes was so into what she was playing that I would let her solo as long as possible. The crowds would be as enthused with her playing and stage presence as I was.” -Cyril Neville
Louisiana born-and-raised singer-songwriter and guitarist Joy Clark is charting her own path. Born the youngest of five children in a tight knit, deeply religious family, Clark’s debut album is both a declaration of her independence and a love letter to the traditions that shaped her.
Joy’s debut album “Tell it to the Wind” marks her arrival on the national stage as an artist who is proud to weave the social consciousness of folk with the rhythms of Southeast Louisiana with the soul-centered music of her childhood, while charting out a path that is all her own. Produced by her musical hero, the four-time Grammy nominated Margaret Becker, it symbolizes a coming home of sorts for Joy, one where she is finally embraced as her full self. Becker’s influence is apparent throughout the album, with her co-writing six of the album’s nine tracks.
On “Lesson,” the record’s second single due on August 7, Joy honors her grandmother’s legendary life while sharing some of the wisdom that shaped her against a stomping, bluesy backdrop. The soulful harmonies and the song’s unapologetic demand that we all take our rightful place in the struggle for freedom, reminds listeners of rock n’ rolls Black, queer, and Southern roots.
Saturday Evening:
Holly Near
The Women in the Arts Festival and the Ten Pound Fiddle are proud to present Holly Near for an evening of a cappella song and storytelling.
After 50 years of bold work, Holly Near is still one of the most consistent and well informed voices for change. Her work is loving, challenging, funny, thought-provoking, and remains rooted in the global community. As an outspoken singer and ambassador for peace, Holly brings a unique integration of world consciousness and self-evaluation, always growing and sharing experience humbly and boldly.
Holly discovered her unique and recognizable voice at an early age, learning to sign along with recordings of some of the world’s great singers. After graduating high school, Holly attended UCLA but her academic journey ended after just a few months when she was spotted by agents and drawn into the world of film and television. She did guest spots on TV shows like The Partridge Family, Room 222, All in the Family, and played supporting roles in films like John Cassavetes’ Minnie and Moskowitz and George Roy Hill’s Slaughterhouse-Five. She moved to New York and performed for a short run in Hair on Broadway but soon turned to singing full time, as a soloist as well as sharing the stage with her sisters Laurel and Timothy. Throughout her career she has enjoyed collaborations with such artists as Mercedes Sosa, Ronnie Gilbert, Inti Illimani, Emma’s Revolution, and her long-time songwriting partner, the late Jeff Langley.
In her early twenties, Near traveled with the Free The Army Show and the Indochina Peace Campaign; an experience that enabled her to learn about the function and consequences of the military industrial complex. While on the FTA tour in 1971 Holly was first introduced to the concept of global feminism. By 1974 she was crossing paths and sharing songs with the wave of new lesbian feminist performers such as Meg Christian, Cris Williamson, Linda Tillery, Mary Watkins, and Alive! Near dove into the feminist movement, trying to understand the depth of sexism and homophobia by turning those lessons into song.
In 2019, Near began a website project called Because of a Song, an online historic archive that documents some of the influential artists that rose from the feminist lesbian music scene in Oakland, California. The site can be viewed at www.becauseofasong.com.
A recipient of dozens of awards from organizations such as the ACLU and the National Organization of Women, Holly was one of Ms Magazine’s Women of the Year recipients and has been nominated for Grammys as well as the Legends of Women’s Music Award.
Learn more at hollynear.com