Down Holly

Hailing from Arlington, Virginia (outside of Washington, D.C.), Down Holly were a fan favorite with a massive following on the D.C. metropolitan area music circuit from 2002-2005. What started as an acoustic side project morphed into an outburst of hi-fi delectability that, at its capstone, helped define D.C.'s burgeoning power pop rock scene and attracted legions of the power pop faithful.

Band members

Original Members

• Will Roberts – lead vocals, guitar
• Ted Morgan – lead guitar
• Lee Solomon – bass
• John Cunningham – drums, vocals

Other Members

• Paul Kamran – lead vocals, guitar (2005)
• Michele Maurer – bass, vocals (2005)

Discography

• Japanese Bonus Track (2002) (EP)
• Next Perfect Thing (2004), Washington Post Editor's Pick
• Mach II: Live at RFK (So Come and Play) (2005) (DVD)

Biography

The band showcased a seasoned pop songwriting aficionado in Will Roberts on lead vocals and guitar, a conservative yet precociously talented Ted Morgan on lead guitar, the punk-rooted bass thumper (and savvy song producer) Lee Solomon, and the genre-hopping salt-of-the-earth drumming of John Cunningham. When Roberts departed in late 2004, and Solomon soon thereafter, remaining members Morgan and Cunningham marched on with crafty singer/songwriter Paul Kamran and firecracker bass veteran (and background vox specialist) Michele Maurer, both of whom filled in admirably. While the band was never quite the same without Roberts and Solomon, it was still damn good until it dissolution in late 2005.

Down Holly's original brand of power-pop rock met with strong reviews from critics and music fans. The band were also popular with musical peers. "Catchy, familiar, yet original" was the prevailing buzz phrase for Down Holly, and for good reason: they mixed big guitars with wide-open choruses; blended tasteful chops and hooks with vocal ingenuity; and offered cleverly inspired rhythm and bass. These myriad sounds collided in sublimity on the band's flagship CD release, Next Perfect Thing, in 2004. Written, produced, and recorded by the original tandem of Roberts, Morgan, Solomon, and Cunningham, the CD made waves in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia and generated regional and national airplay for all of the album's four singles.

In many ways, Down Holly's Next Perfect Thing epitomized the elusive resolution of the age-old query posed by fans of the power pop genre -- "show me something new, I've got way too many choices". The CD showcased a unique and satisfying sound, dragging listeners in from the first note and keeping them hooked. The album framed Roberts's distinctive lyrics with an amalgam of musical inputs by utilizing big guitar sounds to satisfy modern rock fans, binding those guitar sounds to melodic, convincingly-delivered vocals, adding a measured yet flexible rhythm corps, and filtering all of this through catchy and clever songwriting. The result was a modern power pop rock classic labeled by various reviewers as "intense", "musically audacious", and akin to riding "an open convertible" up Pacific Coast Highway.

Song-wise, Next Perfect Thing (no doubt sarcastically titled) is not short on highlights. It garnered radio station play for four songs: the addictive arena rock title track, the pop rock smash "Bright Eyes", the Minneapolis post-punk inspired "Kindergarten", and the roots rock gallop "Lions". Other treats on the CD include "Someday Maybe", a mid-tempo gem in which somehow Better Than Ezra meets Free, and the indie-textured "Curious", which finds the band schizophrenically experimenting with subtlety, on the one hand, and bombast, on the other. The lone throwaway track is "Novocain", a song largely devoid of identity, which may have been more appropriately saddled with the "Curious" moniker. But one dud does little to dent the CD's formidable armor. Because with an aura of cohesiveness and power-pop magnetism, the majority of the songs on Next Perfect Thing combine to form a convincing and musically satisfying effort.

Short Album History

In addition to the award-winning Next Perfect Thing, Down Holly also released a well-received EP, Japanese Bonus Track, in 2002, and a long-form live DVD in 2005 entitled Mach II: Live at RFK (So Come and Play).

Current Whereabouts

Roberts now fronts the power-pop band Spinning Lucy out of Philadelphia, PA. Cunningham plays drums for The Walkaways, a roots rock group based in Arlington, VA. Kamran writes, sings, and plays guitar for his touring musical creation, The Daybreak Line, also out of Arlington. Morgan, Solomon, and Maurer are all pursuing solo projects.

Influences and Roots

Cheap Trick, Fountains of Wayne, Weezer, Big Star, Foo Fighters, The Flaming Lips, Soul Asylum, Matthew Sweet, Pixies, Talking Heads, Teenage Fanclub, The Replacements, The Posies, Jimmy Eat World, The Cars, Ok Go