SONG PREMIERE: Tony Holiday Manages to “Get By” with Guitar-driven Blues-soul

There’s something about Tony Holiday that draws people together. In fact, community has been at the core of Holiday’s young career from the beginning. Since relocating from Salt Lake City to Memphis in 2017, Holiday has been at the center of a soul blues revival in Memphis, anchored by a contingent of young, savvy well-schooled musicians with a “family-like” attitude and a strong belief in one another. Mentored by past legends, Holiday and this loose Memphis collective are building on the city’s rich traditions and carrying them forward.

Motel Mississippi (due out April 14th via 40 Below Records), Holiday’s 2nd solo album, was recorded about an hour outside Memphis in Coldwater, Mississippi, at Zebra Ranch, the studio of the late great Memphis legend Jim Dickinson (The Rolling Stones, Big Star). Combining the sounds of North Mississippi Hill Country, Delta Blues, and Memphis soul, Motel Mississippi is equal parts hypnotic blues, driving soul, and juke joint stomper.

Like with previous projects, Motel Mississippi began as a collaborative effort, this time between Holiday, guitarist/songwriter A.J. Fullerton and guitarist/producer Dave Gross who shared production duties with Fullerton. Rich sonic layers provide a forward-thinking quality to these productions, conjuring up a vibe that’s modern and retro at the same time. 

There’s something in the water in Memphis, and Tony Holiday has tapped into it to contribute to an exciting new chapter unfolding in this storied region.

Today Glide is excited to premiere the standout track “Get By.” Blending the cool blues-rock of acts like The Black Keys and North Mississippi Allstars with a Memphis soul sound, Holiday captures the mood and feel of the place where he now resides. We get treated to blistering harmonica solos as well as some fine blues shredding on the guitar, the interplay between these two lets the song stretch out into something that feels akin of a juke joint romp.

Holiday describes the inspiration and process behind the song:

Get By” written by AJ Fullerton is a 4 on the floor song that resides just south of Memphis in the north Mississippi hill country. It’s a guitar driven song with a big hook that Fullerton / Holiday have delivered with a step of Memphis lightning. This tune is relatable to the everyday person as everybody is just trying to “Get By.”

LISTEN: