Holler Live Session - Alana Springsteen 1

If you listen through Alana Springsteen's discography so far, you'll find some subtle - and some not so - themes running through its foundations. One that's not so hidden, parked up with the engine running in the centre of Springsteen's narratives, is the car. 

"One thing you should know about me is that I really don't like people seeing me cry" Springsteen reveals to us from inside the cosy, welcoming confines of the Betsey Trotwood pub in London. "So I wrote 'Shoulder To Cry On' about one of my safe places, which is the car. I've found a lot of my emotional breakdowns or break-ups with guys have happened there, because no one's around to see".

'Shoulder To Cry On' perfectly exhibits Springsteen's ability to craft artful twists into her vulnerable songwriting - what at first may seem to be an emotional dependency on someone close reveals itself to be an empowering desire to find one's own nest to heal.

Settling into the session, Springsteen gifts us with three performances that balance the fond memories of past love with the need to repair and recuperate after something sorrowful. It's purposeful yet not without hope, the breadth of emotion in her songwriting making her not only the artist, but the person, she is today.

"'While You're At It' is the only love song on my project, 

Springsteen explains. "I honestly wanted to start it out that way as it's my reminder that you can't have the good without the bad; it all comes together".

Performing 'While You're At It', 'Shoulder To Cry On' and 'For What It's Worth' with Breland, this is Alana Springsteen for the Holler Live Sessions.

Holler presents Alana Springsteen for the Holler Live Sessions in London, England, performing her songs 'While You're At It' and 'Shoulder To Cry On', and her duet with Breland, 'For What It's Worth'.

Holler Live Sessions: Alana Springsteen

Settling into the session, Springsteen gifts us with three performances - balancing the fond memories of past love with the need to repair and recuperate after something sorrowful.

Holler Live Sessions: Alana Springsteen Videos | Holler

Ross

Author - Ross Jones 2

Artist - Willie Jones Holler Live Sessions 1

 about Willie Jones. He has an ability to concoct delightfully ice-cold jams out of trad-country riffs and hip-pop samples. He engages any room he enters with calm control and ease. He is 

, in the most natural and inherent sense of the word.

Such confidence is not misplaced. "Boss Hog / I'm a dog / I'm the Billy GOAT" Jones cooly plays off on 'Down By the Riverside'; at first seemingly expressing his belief in himself, but also cleverly defining how where he is from has made him who he is. 

It's those clever rhythmic subtleties that make Jones not only an assured character, but an enigmatic wordsmith - one who is able to take the concept of foundational pop lyricism and inject it with something personal and refreshing.

Without the polished production and energy of the instrumental layers that have permeated Jones' recent singles, the Lousiana-born artist is able to strip these tracks back and let such dexterous wordplay take centre stage. 

Backed by his friend and guitarist Jake, Jones settles into the already warm room and quickly heats it up further; whipping up rhymes on the realities and comforts of home, the persuasive nature of desire and just how "them girls" have this ability to turn his head.

Performing 'Down By the Riverside', 'No Tellin' and 'Them Girls Do', this is Willie Jones for the Holler Live Sessions.

Holler presents Willie Jones for the Holler Live Sessions in London, England, performing his songs 'Down By The Riverside', 'No Tellin'' and 'Them Girls Do'.

Holler Live Sessions: Willie Jones

Without the polished production and energy of the instrumental layers that have permeated Jones' recent singles, the Lousiana-born artist is able to strip these tracks back and let his dexterous wordplay take centre stage.

Holler Live Sessions: Willie Jones Videos | Holler

Artist - Louis Brennan 2 

Louie Brennan is an enigma in the UK Americana scene. A drawling chameleon who wears the vulnerabilities and insecurities of the modern-day on his sleeve, the songwriter draws familiar comparisons to Father John Misty. 

If that seems like a superficial comparison, notice how Brennan is a fellow character creator, one who keeps his own cards close to his chest while portraying the extremities of the graphically realistic characters he invents.

He embodies this style through the two songs he performs for his Holler Live Session; the sycophantic 'My Favourite Disguise' and ostentatious 'The Nobel Prize'. Backed only by wandering and belying acoustic guitar, Brennan's characters battle with themselves as the country they inhabit falls victim to its own bloated ego.

Take the way Brennan boasts through the second verse of 'The Nobel Prize'. Defiantly proud of how much of a "selfish and petulant" man he's become, Brennan cleverly backs this with bright, hopeful chords, as the overarching notion of toxic masculinity is once again swept under the rug by a society unwilling to face its own fuck ups.

Layered and unwavering, Brennan encompasses the darker side of the present day through precocious yet self-aware songs, a scything inditement of nearly everything through something so unequivocally surreal and British as humour in music. 

Playing 'The Nobel Prize' and 'My Favourite Disguise', this is Louis Brennan for the Holler Live Sessions.

Holler presents Louis Brennan for the Holler Live Sessions in London, England, performing his songs 'The Nobel Prize' and 'My Favourite Disguise'. 

Holler Live Sessions - Louis Brennan

UK folk and Americana enigma Louis Brennan joins Holler at The Betsey Trotwood pub in London to perform his songs 'The Nobel Prize' and 'My Favourite Disguise'.

Holler Live Sessions - Louis Brennan 

Artist - Riley Downing 1 

Riley Downing turns up to the Betsey Trotwood with tired eyes and a warm smile. He's a little road weary from his travels to and throughout the UK, a few stacked up late nights and the subtle haze of a hangover lingering into the afternoon. 

Though for this particular trip he's travelled across the pond solo, Riley has been most notably busy with his New Orleans-based band 

, following the release of their highly acclaimed summer 2022 album, 

As he settles into his live session in a characteristically laidback fashion, his at-first slightly elusive nature begins to dissipate. Throughout his set, Riley captures the atmosphere of a humid afternoon sat out on a worn front porch, strumming away on a humble acoustic guitar, carefree and comfortable. 

 His warm, gravelly baritone drawl takes us back down the winding roads he's wandered, recounting the tales of a young ramblin' man and the free-spirited soul-searchers he encountered along his way. 

The sleepy waltz of 'Lullaby' then invites a disarming hush to the room, its endearing sentiment a welcome interlude to the chaos of the capital. 

Riley closes his set with the similarly unhurried 'Standing Still', "a song I wrote", he says, "that's a kind of stream of conscious; standing out in the country and watching the planes". 

It's an effortless performance that speaks to the power of keeping things simple and grounded. That, you'll find, is how things are often best. 

Playing 'South Dakota Wild One', 'Lullaby' and 'Standing Still', this is Riley Downing for the Holler Live Sessions. We hope you love him as much as we do. 

Holler presents Riley Downing for the Holler Live Sessions in London, England, performing his songs 'South Dakota Wild One', 'Lullaby' and 'Standing Still'

Holler Live Sessions - Riley Downing

Throughout his set, Riley captures the atmosphere of a humid afternoon sat out on a worn front porch, strumming away on a humble acoustic guitar, carefree and comfortable. 

Holler Live Sessions - Riley Downing | Holler

Ciara

Ciara with Charley Crockett

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Live sessions and music videos from the world of country, Americana and roots from Holler.

The newest and best country music videos in 2024.

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Holler Live Sessions: Alana Springsteen

Holler Live Sessions: Willie Jones

Holler Live Sessions - Louis Brennan

Holler Live Sessions - Riley Downing