Holmes Brothers to Perform in Middlesex County

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The Holmes Brothers (left to right: drummer Popsy Dixon, guitarist/keyboardist Wendell Holmes, bassist Sherman Holmes) will appear in concert on Saturday, May 20 2006, 6:00 p.m. at St. Clare Walker Middle School, Locust Hill, Virginia. Their performance will be a benefit for Calvary Baptist Church of Saluda. Ever since they joined forces and started performing together in 1979, The Holmes Brothers have been bringing their own brand of gospel-inflected and spiritually moving music to audiences around the world. The Holmes Brothers' breathtaking harmonies resonate with a passion and conviction matched only by their inspired musicianship and their ability to perform sanctified gospel, low-down roadhouse blues, deep soul, barroom country, and pure pop-all in one set.

They have recorded with Van MorrisonPeter Gabriel, Odetta, Phoebe Snow, and Joan Osborne, and have gigged allover the world - even performing for President Clinton. The Holmes Brothers have released nine albums with a tenth to be released later this year. Flavored with music representing all the many genres that the band performs, their albums also contain a generous sampling of original music written by Wendell and Sherman Holmes. The Holmes Brothers have played in 50 countries and were honored by the W.C. Handy Foundation as the 2005 Blues Band of the Year.

Rooted in blues and gospel, The Holmes Brothers have a sound all their own. The rhythmic foundation laid down by Sherman Holmes' bass playing and Popsy Dixon's drumming perfectly compliment Wendell Holmes' hard-driving guitar solos. But even more gripping than their instrumental prowess is their amazing three-part harmony singing, mixing Wendell's gruff and gravelly vocals with Popsy's soaring falsetto and Sherman's rich baritone, creating a multi-layered and ornately textured sound, bringing the soul of gospel music into everything they perform. DownBeat described their singing as "nothing short of heavenly." The London Times said that "their rhythms take over your body while their voices go straight for your heart."

The Holmes Brothers have appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and National Public Radio's Mountain Stage. In 2004, they appeared on Willie Nelson's television special, "Willie Nelson and Friends, " and are featured on his album of the same name. They have been reviewed in Rolling Stone, Billboard, Newsweek, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, The Washington Post, and countless other publications.

This concert is very much a homecoming for Sherman and Wendell Holmes. Natives of Middlesex County who were born and raised at Christchurch, they are sons of the late Sherman Holmes, Sr. and the late Easter Duster Holmes, who were Middlesex County educators. Their parents fostered the brothers' early interest in music, as they listed to traditional Baptist hymns, anthems and spirituals, as well as gospel music and blues. Sherman and Wendell joined Calvary Baptist Church more than 50 years ago and sang in the church choir while they were growing up. While their involvement in Calvary honed their skills in sacred music, they learned down home blues in Middlesex as well, spending time at their cousin Herman Wake's juke joint at Cooks Corner. Wendell and Sherman both graduated from St. Clare Walker High School, an institution named for their great uncle, John Henry St. Clare Walker. The third member of the band, Popsy Dixon, also a native Virginian, has musical roots in the Holiness Church and is from Virginia Beach.

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