Tara Holloway

Tara Holloway's voice is a towering instrument: raw and soulfully weathered, yet capable of precise runs and pitch-perfect delicacy. Her singing is at the centre of her new album for Light Organ Records, Little Ghosts, which seamlessly combines eclectic elements of folk, blues, R&B and rock. Little Ghosts is the culmination of years of dedicated touring and creative growth. In the past decade, the Ottawa-based songwriter has spent time living in Lake Louise, Toronto, Vancouver and Los Angeles, with her guitar acting as her constant companion. Holloway's debut album, 2010's Sins to Confess, was pieced together from five years' worth of scattered studio sessions across the continent. Once the songs were ready, Holloway returned to Ottawa for studio sessions with producer Phillip Bova. Contributors included drummer Dony Wynn (Robert Palmer) and Juno-winning guitarist Kevin Breit (Norah Jones, the Stretch Orchestra). "I wanted to find the common threads and the cohesion in my eclectic nature," Holloway explains. "The songs reflected a lot of different genres, so it was important to me that it all be recorded in the same place with the same drummer and the same mic setup. That brought it all together." After so many years of touring, sleeping on couches and living out of a suitcase, these fearlessly soulful songs represent the beginning of a new era for the well-traveled singer. With Little Ghosts, Tara Holloway has arrived. http://taraholloway.com/music