Nathan Holscher

Music criticism is much like food writing - food writers seem to seek out complexity, want to taste new things, find the combination unexpected flavours that creates something new. They are constantly refining their palette, food fads much as musical ones come and go and we all think that we know what good food is. The thing with food writing and what we do is that occasionally we both need something to clear the taste buds, experience something pure and refreshing. Holscher makes a virtue out of simplicity; he uses just the base ingredients of guitar, bass and drums extra flavour comes from sparse use of banjo, pedal steel or some backing vocals. Combine them in traditional folk/pop/country recipes and you have a good balanced nutritional musical meal.

Like Richard Buckner the songs rely on good writing and are enlivened by the yeast of a good performance, the songs sympathetically arranged whether it is the muted country rock of ‘Hard, High and Blue’ the folk-pop strum of ‘My Sweet’ or the beautiful ‘Stars’. Holscher is going to appeal to a lot of people: he can sing, writes in a classical way without resorting to retro stylings; he’ll be on my menu for some time to come.
-David Cowling
- Americana UK

Our Rating:

'Even The Hills' is the second album from NATHAN HOLSCHER. Another series of absorbing songs, Holscher fixes his thousand yard stare on the landscape whilst looking inwards, taking acoustic country-steeped folk on a painful emotional journey. His is the voice of the last man left in town. Scarred, torn and twisted lives scream an emotional fragility that's superbly at odds with the strength of the songwriting. The world-weary sense of despair is evidence of an astonishing maturity, as Holscher fashions scenes from far beyond his mere 25 years.

The record gets off to a flyer. ‘My Sweet’ is bright and compulsive, but the infectious melody only serves to make the ache more poignant and prominent.

‘Even The Hills’ is a title track characterised by a rolling rhythm where pastoral imagery is a key feature of the lyrics(a recurring theme of the album as a whole). Enhanced by the hollow, radio mic. reverb, Holscher’s voice is delicate and resigned,

As the record develops, so the strings become more intricate thanks to Joe Bollinger’s banjo playing and the pedal steel manned by Kenny Holycross. Tasha Golden’s fragile backing vocals add delicacy to the sense of sadness that pervades each song.
‘That Was Telluride’ is a short burst full of longing. Heartbreak is conveyed beautifully and briefly, whereas ‘Pretty Words’ is weary and full of regret, concerned with the love-hate paradox and focused on the passing of time. Quickly divided possessions and legal bills, even the huge guitar sound and rattling percussion can’t quite lift the mood of a song that sighs this heavily.

There is travel as well as time (both are measured in mistakes rather than months or miles), but each song is nailed down by a sense of retrospective stillness. There’s a helplessness here too, the sense of being powerless to alter fate or halt a cycle of self-destruction. ‘Too Many Roads’ (the title could be taken as a reason for this) features a tapping echo that conveys numb with shock or extreme apathy but Holscher’s song-writing skill is superlative and exudes quality.

The banjo-led journey of ‘Back To New Mexico’ retraces a trail of emotional destruction, sifting through the mess for pieces to pick up, though there’s no chance of ever finding them all or fixing anything whatsoever.

Straight up, this is a hands-down success, and a triumph of skill and artistry over commercial potential that carries its understated appeal far beyond the alt/country/Americana sphere.


- Whisperin and Hollerin

Two years ago, young singer/songwriter Nathan Holscher (pictured) released his second album, Even the Hills, a moody, mesmerizing slab of ethereal, transcendent Americana that helped make Holscher — then a relatively new Cincinnati resident after a few years bouncing around the Midwest and South — a much buzzed-about local artist. Holscher has taken the formula from his debut and improved on it with the new release, Hit the Ground. And this time he’s not alone, using the name “Nathan Holscher & the Ohio 5” to give props to his current back-up band of ace local players.

It’s fitting that this isn’t marked as a solo release, because the band definitely helps give Holscher’s intimate story-songs more presence. There is a clear chemistry between the songwriter and the group, and the chemistry between Holscher and producer/guitarist Ric Hordinski (who also recorded Hills) once again proves to be magical.

Holscher’s gruff, whispery vocals are so engaging they immediately draw the listener through the atmospherics and straight to the guts of his characterdriven tales. The album seethes twilight sadness, thanks to the full combined efforts of all involved. Like Hills, expect Hit the Ground to get attention from Americana outlets across the country, in Europe and beyond. - CityBeat (Cincinnati)

There is a quality to Nathan Holscer’s voice that captures attention. It comes across as a very intense whisper. The kind that focuses your hearing so that not one word is missed. That happens time and again on ‘Hit The Ground’. That underlying anxiety helps to provide the needed emotional texture for the cast of characters that ramble and rumble through the tales. An acoustic bed and lonesome sonics cradle the narrator on “Seven Years” as he crafts a love letter to the titles, baring his soul to a heart out of reach both mentally and geographically. Brushed beats and persistent notes from piano, guitars and bass percolate while that laid back voice delves into the relationship game that drives the main character in “One Last Day”. The ache is real and nearly physically felt in “Along The Way” as the denial is stripped back to allow reality in. The music on ‘Hit The Ground’ is nicely crafted. The rhythms are determined, the riffs fill in the gaps and the hooks are subtle but consistent. The style owes is existence to Classic Rock and Country influences out into an Americana blender to create a tone that perfectly fits those vocals that take aim and hit their emotional targets. - The Alternate Root Magazine

We’re not sure that many people actually know this, but Nathan Holscher has made one of the best Americana records of 2009 with Hit The Ground, his third album of heartworn road songs. With his band, The Ohio 5, this Cincinnati, Ohio songwriter and poet sounds like he’s still roaming the backroads of Springsteen’s Nebraska, lost, lovesick and without the ability to just get the hell over this chick who’s causing him all this heartache. We spoke to the extremely gifted songwriter about growing up on Townes, the intimacy of Cincinnati and his dear grandmother.

Interview by Soren McGuire

Nathan-Holscher.jpg

Do you remember the exact moment songwriting suddenly made enough sense to you to actually pursue it?
I begun fooling around with songwriting as a teenager- probably around 17 or 18, when I wrote some songs for a band I played in. I don't think any of them were particularly good. It took my leaving home to get my head around a lot of things, songs included. By the time I was 20 I was heavy into Townes. Listening to certain songs- You Are Not Needed Now or Flying Shoes- I started to appreciate what writing could mean. Though I am constantly fumbling around the form, the fumbling has made more sense after hearing those things.


This is probably a dumb question but what was it about Townes that inspired you? How did his songwriting suddenly make more sense to you?
My dad turned me on to Townes with a recording of live stuff - mostly just him playing with a fiddle or another guitar. That was a great way to first experience his music, because it brought the attention right to the lyrics. This lead me to think of songs as a form of poetry. From that point on, I told myself I wasn't going to sing anything that I couldn't just be said aloud - with no musical backing. Instead of being limiting, I found that it actually expanded the way one can approach words and music. I'd probably heard his name many times before but…


How would you define your background, both musically and personally? How does it all add up to become the artist you are today?
Personally, I've always had many interests- fishing, geography, reading, sports, food and drink, religion, etc. I've always tried to pursue them with no particular end in mind. Just for the hell of it, I guess. The same is true for my musical background. I like a lot of different things- jazz, rap, different kinds of folk music, lots of R&B. I just try to be open to stuff, and not get too caught up in what's gonna come of it on any particular day. My job is to brew a pot of coffee and let curiosity do the rest.


Yet you have a pretty distinctive sound, don't you? It's funny, but with the label "alt.country" being put on pretty much anything these days that's vaguely reminiscent of country, Hit The Ground is actually one of the most alt.country-ish records I've heard in a long time.The sound is solid, very layered yet organic at the same time. What's your approach this whole alternative country thing we all keep going on about?
I think you hit the nail right the head with the idea of a record being organic. No matter how many people are playing, or what a song is about, I think there's an argument for letting each song breathe.

It seems like lots of things have fallen under the "alt country" umbrella over the years. My approach is just to put the focus on songs. If I think I can get the most out of a song by just playing it acoustically, or with a steel guitar or piano, that's what I'll do. But if I think a song is best presented in a textured, semi-orchestral fashion, that's fine, too. I mostly write songs on my acoustic guitar, or occasionally through messing around on the piano.


When I listen to Hit The Ground, I feel there’s a sense of restlessness in there, like you’re eager to hit the road and leave behind whatever or whoever’s hurting you or holding you back. How would you describe the themes of this album?
There's definitely restlessness in there. The more I live with the characters in that group of songs, the more I think there's some underlying decency to many of them as well. Yes, these are people who have made some poor choices and are paying an emotional cost. But they are also fairly earnest, almost old-fashioned in their willingness to make a choice and commit to it. They aren't sending text messages to would-be lovers as the bar closes. They are accountable to their feelings, and are probably sleeping alone after last call. Most of them, anyway. Characters also give recognition to landscape in a couple songs. The theme of personal void is sometimes mitigated by the vastness of the natural world.


Oh yes, the pre-web 2.0 Twitter generation. I once belonged with these people. These days my girlfriend and I communicate mostly on Facebook. Those people will always live on in heartworn love songs even when the last romantic has left this life, won't they?
I think there is something to be sad for the old-fashioned forms of communication. Of course, these days phone calls seem old-fashioned. I love reading letters. I've read some letters from the Civil War era and before, when people really had to deal with larger notions of space and time. To me, that stuff is usually much more compelling than the drivel that is turned out by electronic devices. Plus, if someone actually writes you a letter, it means they've really committed to the idea of communicating with you. It doesn't take much effort to write an email or text. The only person I get real letters from these days is my grandmother. I really look forward to getting them.


Where were these songs written?
Mostly in my bedroom. A couple in the kitchen or on back porch.


So they weren't written on the back of a napkin in some desolated bar on the outskirts out Cincinnati at 3 am with George Jones playing on the jukebox?
Na, I tend to be somewhat of an isolationist when it comes to songwriting. I'm not at all good at multi-tasking.


You sound pretty heartbroken on a lot of these songs. Is it the classic case of guy meets girl, girl dumps guy, guy records an album of broken-hearted love songs, girl hears it on the radio and comes knocking on guy's door again?
I've always kept that door locked. Most folks have had their hearts broken in one way or another, I'd expect. And it only needs to happen once to be able to write that way for the rest of one's life. I've been mercifully free of that sort of thing for a while. I can go there in song; that's more than enough. More than anything, I think I lucked out and knocked on the right door for once.


To be able to write about heartbreak like you do without actually being in the middle of one right now takes a pretty damn good poet, doesn't it?
A couple of these songs do date back to less sunny days. But I think you can always remember what that feels like. And of course you are reminded of what that experience fees like when a friends goes through it, or through reading or whatnot.


Tell me about working with Ric Hordinski who produced this album
Working with Ric is a focused experience for me. I come in with a group of songs and play them for him. We'll toss around ideas for an hour or two. Then we just record the songs. This time, the band and I played and sung them live - I didn't want to lose any of the feel with overdubs on vocal or rhythm tracks. Ric is as good an engineer as he is producer so that part was fairly easy. On many of the songs, he'll add his own guitar parts. He's got a good sense of where to play and where to breathe. The process unfolds over a few 6 or 7 hour days, and it's pretty laid back. We usually drink some beer.


Unfortunately I've never been to Cincinnati, but I sense there's something very intimate about that city. Has it influenced your songwriting? I don't know, I just imagine this American version of Prague or Paris, with small brick lanes, old houses and lots of rain...
Lots of rain. And yes, there is something intimate about it. It's a fair-sized city, but people tend to know each other. There are lots of older buildings, and some really nice views. It's a pretty hilly landscape, sitting on top of one of the country's largest rivers, the Ohio. Though there are other settings that have greatly affected how I view writing - a lot of the West. I think it's fair to say Cincinnati has been an influence, too.


Nathan Holscher & The Ohio 5’s Hit The Ground is out now. For more info, songs and how to purchase the album, go to myspace.com/nathanholscher

- Americana UK

After taking Even the Hills, the sophomore CD from singer/songwriter Nathan Holscher, for several test drives, I was convinced he was probably in his mid-40s. The element of searching and wanderlust in his lyrics made me think he's probably traveled the world a few times over.
Then I read his bio, which said he was all of 25 years old.

So while it's a bit of a cliché to say Holscher is "wise beyond his years" or an "old soul," this is one case that demands such rote commentary. Working in the medium of acoustic Folk, yet transcending it within his smoky songwriting, Holscher paints vivid pictures within his songs, which are emotionally direct in their storytelling but spectral and airy in their sonic construction. Working with local Grammy-nominated producer Ric Hordinski, Holscher has created an album of dark Americana, falling somewhere between the spaciousness of Joe Henry and the lithe Pop of Damien Rice.

Holscher's voice is the definition of subtle -- it's far from an expansive instrument -- but it is perfect for his songs, conveying fragility, melancholy and sighing resignation. His low, breathy, almost whispery voice is like a cross between Springsteen in low-key mode and Matt Behringer of current Indie sensations The National. While there are less heavy moments, much of the record swirls around in a sea of sorrow, with Holscher giving voice to those deepest, saddest emotions all of us have. Only he has the talent to turn them into pure poetry.

The album is best taken as a whole, as all of Holscher's songs have the ability to mesmerize and, while tempos change and things do get more direct at times, that "hovering" quality is so hypnotic you might not be able to turn it off. Some highlights include the slow-burning "Locust," which shivers with churning, sparkling acoustic guitar and some ethereal electric guitar haze, and "Hard, High and Blue," an anthem of restlessness with one of the more buoyant choruses on the album (the pedal-steel guitar pixie-dust and shuffle beat make it sound like a traditional Country song played by ghosts).

Holscher gets a lot of great help on this album: Ellery's Tasha Golden lends some perfect vocal harmonies, Josh Seurkamp shows (again) why he's one of the area's more in-demand drummers, Kenny Hollycross works his pedal steel magic, Joe Bolinger provides a textural banjo undertow and Hordinski's trademark guitar wash floats in and out of the mix with great effectiveness. But Holscher's songs remain the heart and soul of the album -- and what heart and soul it is. With songs this soulful, it's boggling to think what he'll sound like when he actually is in his mid-40s.

Holscher presents a CD release party at The Comet Saturday. Ellery also performs. The show is free. (nathanholscher.com)

- City Beat, by Mike Breen

BY Brian Baker

Tall, tattooed and rail thin, Nathan Holscher cuts a figure that could be imposing if he channeled his intensity into Rock's frenetic abandon or Punk's confrontational chaos. But Holscher has translated his emotional passion into the Folk idiom, and when he talks about his music and his intentions his words are delivered with the same measured deliberation and whispered modesty that defines the dark, quiet beauty of his sophomore album, Even the Hills.
"For better or worse, I don't or can't write the songs that make young women in sundresses dance," says Holscher with a smile over beers at Northside Tavern. "I write songs that reflect another side of people's lives. A lot of influence comes from the way I'm looking at life or the folks that I'm reading -- a lot of Wendell Berry, a Kentucky author, Faulkner's always a favorite and Wallace Stevens. I felt literature moving me toward this. And trying to write a song that doesn't get the listener to take a side."

Holscher grew up in Galena, Ill., with his newspaper editor/English professor father and stay-at-home mother. Music was a constant in his home -- Bruce Springsteen was a big influence and he cleared the dinner dishes nightly to Dire Straits. He eventually learned to play guitar as a teen.

As a college student in Richmond, Ind., Holscher heard Townes Van Zandt's "You Are Not Needed Now" and experienced an epiphany. Post-graduation, he embarked on a direction without clearly understanding his destination, knowing only that the journey was the important thing.

"Once I was out, it was time to fill in the spaces with work where I could, but I just kept writing songs," says Holscher. "I didn't think about whether financially that would pan out, and I still don't know, but I just felt like it was something that I have to do."

Holscher returned to Galena in 2004 with his college song portfolio to record his debut, Pray for Rain, which made in-roads at college radio and had a significant impact in Europe. He bounced around the Midwest ("couch surfing," he says), and then Chicago, before relocating to Cincinnati a couple of years ago. Holscher took a job with a nonprofit river conservancy group (in favor of another offered job in Austin, Tex.), visited friends in the Southwest and continued to craft sparse and intimate Folk songs, all of which have impacted the songs he's written recently. Although he knew he would record another album, he had no idea when or how it would happen.

"I was set on leaving Cincinnati about a year ago and moving to New Mexico," says Holscher. "Then I moved in with some friends in Winton Place and got some encouragement and support. My housemate knew (producer/musician) Ric Hordinski through a friend and I met up with Ric and we talked. I felt really comfortable with where he was coming from, where he'd been musically and what he would add to the process."

Holscher notes that he and Hordinski both compromised to get to the heart of Even the Hills.

"Ric kind of made me get out of just making an AltCountry or Americana record," he says. "He brought different ideas for rhythm and tempo and hooks that were really important. This isn't the kind of record he would necessarily make. I just kind of wanted to make pretty songs and he was down with that. Both of us had to let go a little bit to make this record work. I had to let go of some preconceived notions of what this record would sound like and he was open to making a record that sounded like me."

Although he tends to keep his expectations and responses low-key, the future seems shades-bright for Holscher. He's rarely performed live but he's poised to change that situation very soon. Since its release, Even the Hills has generated strong support at WNKU and at college stations around the country, and the European audience that backed Pray for Rain has shown equal interest in the new album, leading Holscher to believe he might tour overseas in the foreseeable future. Still, he approaches everything with a wary sense of satisfaction.

"You have to be yourself and you can't worry about how anyone else is going to receive the record, because at the end of the day, it's going to be your record," says Holscher with a grin. "I'm not really part of any scene and I'm kind of a homebody, and I didn't know where it would go and frankly I don't care. I learned that on this one. If people get it, it's so affirming and wonderful, and if they don't, I'm going to wake up tomorrow and try to write another song." - CityBeat

It's no wonder Nathan Holscher's new album is titled Even the Hills. The 26-year-old Cincinnati musician frequently finds himself traveling Ohio's hill country to visit family and friends. Whether he's wandering west toward the Mississippi River or east across the flat-topped highlands of West Virginia, Holscher draws inspiration from the landscape.

"I think the natural world is kind of the foundation of our lives. It surrounds us wherever we are, whether we realize it or not," he said. "To be a good writer, I think it's important for me to listen and observe and be tuned in to that world."

Holscher's trips to Galena, Illinois, where he grew up, inspired some of the songs on Even the Hills, his second independent release. His first CD, Pray for Rain, recorded with Sarah Ferrell, was released in 2004.

"My family lives between two towns on the Mississippi River," Holscher said. "When I make the drive, it's very relaxing … to go from the hectic pace of the city to the countryside. I get out there and the hills are pretty, the air is clean. It's peaceful."

Friend and business manager Susan Knight acknowledges Holscher's connection to the landscape. "Ultimately, that's his muse," she said. Environmental awareness isn't just fodder for his music, but part of his life's work, Knight added, noting Holscher's part-time job with a nonprofit river conservancy group.

"It's a big part of who he is," she said. "When all else is not right, Nathan gets in his car and drives."

On His Bookshelf

Holscher's music is a mixture of country, folk and Americana, inspired not only by different lights and changing seasons, but by literature. "I'm a big fan of Wendell Berry's work. I think his ability to be equally effective in writing from different characters' perspectives is the mark of a true craftsman."

William Faulkner, W.H. Auden and A.R. Ammons rank among his favorite authors. At the time of this interview, he was reading Jim Harrison's novel Returning to Earth.

However, Holscher said he doesn't rely on inspiration to compose music. He can't afford to. So he blocks out Fridays for his creative work. "I get up in the morning, brew some coffee and try to go about writing," he said. "I don't write late at night, and I can't write drunk. I have to wake up to that time."

With no formal training in music, he learned how to play guitar as a teenager from his father, who was also a songwriter. After high school, Holscher attended Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, earning a degree in religious studies. Although he wasn't sure what he'd do with his life, he said he didn't plan to become a musician. "I just realized that trying to do anything else drove me crazy."

Working to Make Music

Holscher spends little time worrying about the financial results of his creative work. "I have to eat, so I have to think about it a little bit. But when you're doing something that you love, I don't think you can stop doing that because the money's not working. When it's art, the value of what you produce exceeds monetary value."

While Knight handles the business end of things, Holscher shuns the conventional career model. Knight explained: "He lives simply. All his things fit in one room. He doesn't spend wildly. He lives off less money, working 20 to 30 hours, so that he can prioritize his art."

For now, Holscher is content, but not without reservations: "I don't know if we're meant to live like this, all spread out across the country living among strangers, rather than staying in one community where our families have lived for generations and everyone takes care of each another. Sometimes I wonder why I have to get on a plane or drive for 10 hours to see the ones I love. I'm not comfortable with this scenario... But I have to be where there's an audience, and it has to be a place bigger than Galena."


Bobbi Buchanan, of Louisville, Ky., is editor of New Southerner.

- New Southerner Magazine

Nathan Holscher's brilliance is in his storytelling with a CD full of rich characters who have some issues. There are road songs, love songs and plenty of soul searching. There is lots of yearning, restless hearts and pleading for personal identity in Holscher's writing. His husky, whispering voice sets the perfect storytelling mood for these often haunting tales.

Holscher, who says he's a voracious reader of novels, has crafted tunes in the best storytelling tradition - create a character, a setting and see where it goes. Not surprisingly, among his biggest inspirations is Bruce Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Joad."

"I think some of the most compelling stories to tell happen to have a haunted feel where perhaps the character is heading into some personal void," he says.

It's also refreshing that Holscher writes in the third person cleverly helping us observe his characters. As he puts it," "I'm not just taking pages from my diary. I keep my personal life personal and don't really sing about it. I let the stories become the focus."

Holscher is from a small town in Illinois, graduated from Earlham College in Richmond, Ind., and spent some years traveling the Southwest and Midwest. He landed here a few years ago working for a river conservation group. And he discovered local producer Ric Hordinski, who produced this album and a solo release three years ago.

"I thought if I had to do this kind of music I had to go to Austin or Nashville, but that's not the case with Ric being here. And it's a very supportive music scene."

Holscher's CD should surely get plenty of attention across the country and in Europe in Americana circles (It is getting airplay on WNKU-FM). Holscher will open for Robbie Fulks at the Southgate House Nov. 13. - Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati-based singer/songwriter Nathan Holscher's tunes are more than just melodies- they're somewhat melancholy tales filled with the kind of soul-searching characters often found in novels. Part folk, part modern rock, part book on tape, the music of Nathan Holscher and trhe Ohio 5 (his local background vocalists and instrumentalists) weaves relatable stories. Their latest album, "Hit the Ground," creates engaging narratives you'll want to have on every road trip. - Ohio Magazine