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After 50 years of bold work, Holly Near is still one of the most consistent and well informed voices for change. Her work is loving, challenging, funny, thought-provoking, and remains rooted in the global community. As an outspoken singer and ambassador for peace, Holly brings a unique integration of world consciousness and self-evaluation, always growing and sharing experience humbly and boldly.

Holly discovered her unique and recognizable voice at an early age, learning to sign along with recordings of some of the world’s great singers. After graduating high school, Holly attended UCLA but her academic journey ended after just a few months when she was spotted by agents and drawn into the world of film and television. She did guest spots on TV shows like The Partridge Family, Room 222, All in the Family, and played supporting roles in films like John Cassavetes’ Minnie and Moskowitz and George Roy Hill’s Slaughterhouse-Five. She moved to New York and performed for a short run in Hair on Broadway but soon turned to singing full time, as a soloist as well as sharing the stage with her sisters, Laurel and Timothy. Throughout her career she has enjoyed collaborations with such artists as Mercedes Sosa, Ronnie Gilbert, Inti Illimani, Emma’s Revolution, and her long-time songwriting partner, the late Jeff Langley.

In her early twenties, Near traveled with the Free The Army Show and the Indochina Peace Campaign; an experience that enabled her to learn about the function and consequences of the military industrial complex. While on the FTA tour in 1971 Holly was first introduced to the concept of global feminism. By 1974 she was crossing paths and sharing songs with the wave of new lesbian feminist performers such as Meg Christian, Cris Williamson, Linda Tillery, Mary Watkins, and Alive! Near dove into the feminist movement, trying to understand the depth of sexism and homophobia by turning those lessons into song.

Holly is known for the anthemic quality of some of her songs. As a songwriter she takes up the challenge of turning big concepts into small, personal stories. In response to the slaughter of the students at Kent State, she wrote It Could Have Been Me. And following the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in San Francisco, she penned Singing For Our Lives, which has become an anthem for the LGBTQ community and appears in the Unitarian Church hymnal. The chilling disappearance of people in Chile under the Pinochet dictatorship brought forth Hay Una Mujer Desaparecida to commemorate the women who had “been disappeared.”

In 2019, Near began a website project called Because of a Song, an online historic archive that documents some of the influential artists that rose from the feminist lesbian music scene in Oakland, California. The site can be viewed at www.becauseofasong.com.

A recipient of dozens of awards from organizations such as the ACLU and the National Organization of Women, Holly was one of Ms Magazine’s Women of the Year recipients and has been nominated for Grammys as well as the Legends of Women’s Music Award.

 

 

 

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SULLY TUTTLE, Sullivan Tuttle, guitarist and singer with AJ Lee & Blue Summit, has created a name for himself as one of the most innovative guitarists of his generation. From an early age he was wowing listeners in Youtube videos that have millions views collectively. His tasteful guitar playing is impossibly fast, and he has won the Northern California Bluegrass Society Guitar Player of the Year award more times than anyone can count. Sully is more than just a virtuoso picker. One listen to his cover of The National’s “Soho Riots” and it’s clear that he possesses a voice and musicality equal to his incredible technical abilities on the guitar. Sully’s rich baritone crackles with emotion and leaves audiences wanting more. When he steps up to the mic at live shows and lets out the first words and you can feel the energy shift in the air as the audience snaps to attention. There is a deep inward focus in his performances that makes it impossible to look away. His music reflects his singularity as an artist, as well as the thousands of hours he has poured into his abilities, creating something both raw and masterfully crafted.

Abby Posner

Ugly Mug , Soquel, Ca.

With Special Guest Patti Maxine

January 16th, 2027. 7 PM

 

Abby Posner has been a working musician in Los Angeles for the past 18 + years.  She is best known for her ability to play nearly any instrument that she can get her hands on, twisting genres, and pushing the boundaries of folk, roots, electronic, and pop music making her “Genre Fluid.” If you have seen Abby perform live, you know she can play a fierce lead-blues guitar solo, or throw down a complex Earl Scruggs banjo riff. You also may have spotted her playing drums, mandolin, or bass while using her looping pedal. In addition to her versatility, she puts passion and soul into everything she does.  Posner’s live shows are simply mesmerizing.  Her energy is comparable to Chris Thile of Nickel Creek, and The Lumineers.  Posner’s songs range from intimate haunting folk songs, to upbeat festival/dance your pants off hits.
This CalArts music graduate has composed & produced music for commercials/TV, films, and radio shows all over the globe (including Hulu’s Maggie, The Fosters, This American Life, The Art of More, and Last Tango in Halifax, custom songs for Facebook, Viacom-CBS, and CW’s Kung Fu). She also has music placed in commercials and TV shows all over China, Sweden, The UK, and Australia. Posner appeared in two episodes of GLEE on season four playing banjo and guitar, and the Freeform show Famous In Love playing banjo, as well as performing live several times on KCAL 9 news and Good Day LA.
Abby has also scored the music for multiple films (Across Land Across Sea, Through Their Eyes, award winning short animation Elizabeth Sees, and recently scored the Award-winning Documentary Lady Buds) while playing and touring all over the US.  In 2019 Posner played banjo and sang Wagon Wheel as a featured principal role in Bank Of America’s ad campaign for the Ken Burn’s PBS Country Music Documentary along side Dom Flemons and Amythyst Kiah.
After signing with Gary Calamar’s licensing company Laurel Canon in 2016, Abby Posner has gained major recognition in the LA music scene. Opening for such iconic acts as PHRANC, Sierra Hull, and Dustbowl Revival.  She has released multiple albums under her name, and Abby & The Myth, and recently released her first full length album under Blackbird Record Label in 2023 titled Second Chances. 
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Abby Posner teamed up with Ships Have Sailed to write hit song Get Loud in 2023.  Get Loud continues to Chart the Alternative Rock/indie Radio charts, and won the grand prize in the USA Songwriter Competition in 2023.
In 2020 Abby Posner won the Carl Gage “Give me Shelter in Place” Songwriting Award through the Topanga Folk Festival for her original song Blind Spots, and she received the runner up for her song Emergency Use Only for the 18th Annual International Acoustic Music Awards.  She was honored to land Official Showcases at Folk Alliance International in 2022 and 2024 after signing with her booking agency Baker Booking (now Rockwood Booking.)
Posner was an official Showcase Artist at Americana Fest 2023, and her music video Quiet On Sunset was recently featured on CMT.

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