Think – Dylan, Waits, Young, Cohen. And then there’s James Houlahan, a singer, songwriter, and guitar player from Los Angeles, who errs towards the Americana, and Folk fields from Los Angeles. His music is an ethereal mix of acoustic roots, alternative folk, and strange flights of sonic alchemy as his original songs combine traditional forms and simple melodies with evocative language and stark imagery. Influenced by a tradition that includes.
With his latest album On A Wing under his belt, James joins us for a Why I Love on Tim O’Gara.
DEEP IN TOPANGA…
I am lucky to live where I live. Deep in the green wilds of Topanga Canyon, just outside the rumble and lights of greater Los Angeles, California. Topanga has a storied history when it comes to music. Especially during the 1960s and 1970s when bands and artists like Neil Young, Taj Mahal, Canned Heat, Linda Ronstadt, Marvin Gaye and many others made the Canyon their home. There’s a kind of beauty and mystery here unlike other places I’ve lived. Sometimes late at night, the wind picks up and cuts through a blissful silence. And I imagine all the ghosts of all that great music pulsing through the Canyon. All the songs that have moved through here, now faint echoes in the night.
One artist I’ve met and whose music I’ve come to love while living here is Tim O’Gara. Hearing him sing, you are immediately transported to a place of beautiful enchantment. A voice that gives shape to a graceful, lilting, soulful quality; evocative and elusive at the same time. Tim’s songs are like little worlds unto themselves, populated by numerous characters and flickering moments in time. Collected images and experiences that seem to flow in and out of each other in a grand fluvial dance. Like multiple creeks winding in and out of each other, headed for the ocean. In a sense, he embodies the wild spirit of Topanga that I’ve come to know and love.
IMPRESSED IMMEDIATELY
I first met Tim at an open mic in nearby Tarzana. He played a song that night on the jaw-harp, and I was immediately impressed because he seemed to really know what he was doing on that thing. He was so good that I had to ask him to play on a few songs on my latest album, On A Wing. He kindly accepted my invitation, and it was an absolute pleasure to have his contributions help bring my songs to life.
LIKE NO OTHER
Tim is not big on self-promotion. He quietly puts out release after release on bandcamp.com with very little notice or fanfare. He confessed to me once that in his daily life he sometimes forgets that he is a singer-songwriter and musician. I found that slightly amusing given the extent and depth of his creative vision. He is truly like no other artist I’ve met. For example, he puts the real names of friends and people he knows in his songs. Strangely (and beautifully) enough, I’ve met people from Topanga first in Tim’s songs, and then in real life. The people and landscape of Topanga are literally moving through his music.
Tim O’Gara recently released a new album, Learning To Sing. Give it a listen. The first track (Sow In The Sunshine) is worth the price of admission alone. Experience how a song can be so quietly beautiful and yet so powerful at the same time. If you let Tim O’Gara into your ears, his music will find the right way to your heart, guaranteed. And in the process, you may get to know some of the beauty and mystery of Topanga, too.
Our thanks to James for highlighting an under the radar but still influential musician.
You can read more from our extensive archive of Why I Love pieces from a wide array of artists on an even wider array of subjects, here.
James Houlahan: Website