National Freedom

• Track Listing

This 5-song collaboration between artist Lonnie Holley and the late

visionary producer Richard Swift is a tribute to urgent, raw, American

art - from Howlin' Wolf to Captain Beefheart, from Cecil Taylor to Bo

Diddley. The songs pulse with anger, hope, energy and a bit of swagger.

You can hear sweat and tears through the speaker. Swift left us two years

ago today, but his spirit buzzes through these songs.

During a West Coast tour with Deerhunter in late summer 2013, Holley

was put in touch with Swift by a friend who suggested using a day off

on tour to record at Swift's National Freedom Studio in Cottage Grove,

Oregon. Now rather legendary, Swift was in a breakout moment as a

producer having recently worked with artists like The Shins, Foxygen

and Damien Jurado. Holley's essential debut album, Just Before Music,

had come out the year prior. The cosmic connection between Holley

and Swift was immediate. They put down five songs in their day

together: all conjured in the studio and one-of-a-kind.

At the end of that day in 2013, Swift - always up until the wee hours -

made a late night call to the friend who had set up the session. He was

effusive about the experience - thrilled to have found a kindred spirit

in Lonnie Holley and thankful to spend a day crafting unclassifiable,

extemporaneous and soulful music.