Catalpa is the self-produced debut CD from Texas-bred, San Francisco-based singer-songwriter, Jolie Holland. Catalpa will appeal to fans of Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, Gillian Welch, Cat Power, Will Oldham, Woody Guthrie and Rickie Lee JonesAmong the most stunning debuts of 2003, Catalpa was initially self-released by Ms. Holland in January, but word quickly spread beyond her San Francisco home of this strikingly talented singer who sounds like Billie Holiday covering Cat Power versions of Appalachian folk songs. After a bidding war, the album was re-released on Anti--worth noting because it makes her the first up-and-comer to sign with the same label as Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and Solomon Burke. When Holland made these recordings, she hadn't set out to make an album at all; some tunes were demos and others were simply recordings made to teach her songs to potential accompanists. Holland helped found Canadian alt-folk act the Be Good Tanyas, and, although she left them due to creative differences, her music is similar to that of the Tanyas--just stranger, sparser, and more haunting. The most apt reference point might be the '60s folk singer Karen Dalton, but Holland's voice is so strong and sweet the nearest analog might actually be Van Morrison circa 1968. Her voice floats about like the loveliest bumblebee in flight on "All the Morning Birds," while the ghosts of Bessie Smith and Geechie Wiley are channeled on the acoustic blues stomp "Black Hand Blues." --Mike McGonigal
