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The Spectator
Musician and Entrepreneur Takes the Stage
by Taylor Coe '13Arts and Entertainment Writer
October 30, 2009
When he got up on stage at last Thursday's acoustic coffeehouse, Greg Holden did not know what to say. He explained this to the audience between almost every song as he awkwardly stood behind the mic. "You guys are pretty shy," he told us and, smiling, asked if anyone had questions for him. There was a classroom-quality silence before someone in the front row asked where he hailed from in England and he laughed. He noted that he was born in Lancashire, which would explain why he "[doesn't] sound anything like Mary Poppins" and then he compared the relation of his accent to a London accent to the hardship that Texans must face in the United States.
In his home country and abroad, Greg Holden is quickly becoming a musical contender. Holden's "Living Room Series" on YouTube has garnered over a million hits despite the surprisingly simple template of his living room as a set and his introspective, warming songs. His recent success has propelled him to an opening slot for Ingrid Michaelson during her tour beginning this November. Holden's recent traveling away from London has led to a "Not My Living Room Series" on YouTube with a "Running on Empty"-era Jackson Browne sensibility, filming his bits in hotel rooms, backstage and on tour buses. The latest entry features a new song written by Holden and our old friend Joey Ryan—a folky gem that features spectacular harmony between the duo.
After a seven-song set, Holden gave way to Jay Nash, who began by telling the audiences how he grew up near Syracuse.However, his choice of a first song that he described as a "cautionary tale about home" is telling. Nash played twelve songs, drawing five from his most recent album The Things You Think You Need. Within two days, his album hit the #22 spot on the iTunes Rock Chart—the highest placement thus far by a truly independent artist. Nash, after all, maintains an entirely independent position, recording solely with his own label. He described it as difficult journey; he has released seven full-length albums and toured cross-country countless times and only recently has he cracked any significant chart. He imagines that it took "all the people [that he] ever met" to propel his last effort that high on iTunes. The album, he told the audience at one point, even appeared in some record stores. After its release, he noted, it was the first time he called his mom and didn't hear his dad yelling in the background: "Tell him to get a real f*ing job!"
Nash is a truly enterprising person. He is the force behind the Room 5 Lounge, a popular venue and hangout for successful and aspiring musicians in Los Angeles, regularly booked by artists such as Joey Ryan, Sara Bareilles and Javier Dunn. Room 5 began, Nash explained, when he was waiting tables in L.A. and noticed the tiny room with a stage above a nearby restaurant. He did not have enough of a following at the time to book a gig, but when the restaurant changed ownership, Nash saw an opportunity and offered to play a residency in the space. The new owner agreed and Nash, having installed a sound system, began to develop the Room 5 into what it is today.
Like many other singer-songwriters, Nash began at the bottom, performing on subway platforms in New York. He describes this period of his life as rewarding, due to those moments when he truly connected with those passing by. "You really have to work for it," he told me, referring to those magical connections. Today, both Nash and Holden still work just as hard and win over more and more of those pedestrians every time they appear on a stage. Nash told me that listening to old records like Dylan when he was a kid let him know that he "was not alone in the universe." I think all the Coffeehouse attendees know what he means.