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Monday, November 17, 2014

10 Things You Might Not Know About Wayfinders' Holcombe Waller

by Chris Tyler

From tidal patterns and ancient ocean voyages to errand-running and GPS devices, navigation past and present propels Wayfinders, a new song cycle by Portland-based musician and composer Holcombe Waller opening at the BAM Fisher this Wednesday, November 19. We undertook our own voyage through cyberspace to bring you this series of interesting tidbits on the artist behind it all.


Holcombe Waller. Photo: Alicia J. Rose


1. His name means "deep valley."
Holcombe is an ancient surname of Anglo-Saxon origin derived from the Old English, pre-7th-century—"hol" (meaning "hollow, sunken, deep") and "cumb" (meaning "valley, ravine"). Holcombe sometimes sings about valleys, too:



2. He records songs in his dining room.
This isn't a dining room, per se, but we think it's safe to say that he sounds wonderful in most domestic spaces.

3. He was a member of the Duke's Men of Yale.
According to his website, he was also a freshman physics major. Check him out covering the Barenaked Ladies' "What a Good Boy" with the a cappella troupe here.

4. He's buddies with fellow Next Wave artist Gabriel Kahane.
Sometimes they even sing together.

5. He's also friends with legendary downtown performance artist Penny Arcade.
They met through Antony Hegarty (of Antony and the Johnsons acclaim), and she's actually the "Penny" he shouts out during the second verse of "Risk of Change" (see #2). Take a peek at a selection from her recent show at Joe's Pub, Longing Lasts Longer, here.

6. He's a Taurus.

7. He acted in Ryan Trecartin's sibling topics (section a).
Watch the entire movie here.

8. He can sleep for four hours and still sing like an angel the next night.
This bit of information comes to us from Next Wave alum Miguel Gutierrez, who also choreographed and performed in Holcombe's beautiful video for "Hardliners:"



9.  He has collaborated with Black Mountain Songs' Bryce Dessner.
Bryce played guitar on Holcombe's first two albums, Advertising Space and Extravagant Gesture. Both have been discontinued, but are still available at some live shows.

10. You can listen to most of his music on Bandcamp.
Unlike Taylor Swift, Holcombe is happy to share his music online. It's also all available to download.

Wayfinders runs at BAM Fisher November 19—22.

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