Flora Checknoff, Michael Flanagan and Erica Schinasi from Holy Holy Vine perform “Board Paste” at Sherwood’s Music (Carrie Eidson/ Mountain Xpress)
Holy Holy Vine calls itself “a musical collective of sorts,” but another way to describe it is an ever changing project whose members (who should be considered past, present and future collaborators) are dispersed up and down the East Coast and across the Atlantic. Perhaps the simplest thing to say is Holy Holy Vine is folk music with an experimental bent centered around lead singer and songwriter, Flora Wolpert Checknoff.
Checknoff and Nick Zorn first formed Holy Holy Vine as co-songwriters in Baltimore in 2008. Each has since moved away from that city, with Checknoff now in Asheville and Zorn in Berlin. Checknoff has carried the name Holy Holy Vine, expanding the project into a collaborative whose members include Emma Alabaster, Zach Dunham and Corinne Bennett in New York City, and Danni Iosello, Tim Hurley, Alston Palmer, Michael Flanagan and Erica Schinasi in Asheville.
Checknoff and Schinasi (who moved to Spain shortly after this video was shot) also work together as Better Better, a joint songwriting and recording project. In addition to his work with Holy Holy Vine, Flanagan performs solo under the moniker Carcajou.
Holy Holy Vine will perform at The Odditorium on Wednesday, Jan. 22 with Vio Mire and Tashi Dorji. For more information about Holy Holy Vine, visit their Facebook or BandCamp pages, or see Mountain Xpress’ article by Jesse Farthing in our print edition this week or online.
This video web series is produced by Mountain Xpress and Sherwood’s Music. Check back each Thursday for a new video featuring Asheville and WNC musicians.
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