Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 24, 1993 TAG: 9303240137
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ACTIVIST, ARTIST HOLLY NEAR TO PLAY TECH
Singer, songwriter, actress, feminist, political activist, author, record company executive, outspoken lesbian. Holly Near has taken on many roles in Near her 20 years in the entertainment business.But most of all, she has been an uncompromising original.
A California native, Near, who will perform at Virginia Tech tonight, started out as an actress in the late '60s and early '70s doing film, "Slaughterhouse Five," and television: "The Partridge Family," "Room 222," "All in the Family" and "The Mod Squad." She also appeared in the Broadway production of "Hair."
Near became much better-known for her music, however.
And her political stances.
She was a performer on Jane Fonda's controversial "Free the Army" anti-war tour of Southeast Asia in 1971. Afterwards, with the help of her family, Near founded Redwood Records in Oakland and began making records.
The mainstream music industry was cool to Near when she returned.
She released her first Redwood album, "Hang in There," in 1973, and developed a loyal audience through the remaining '70s and into the '80s. On Redwood, she recorded 14 albums between 1973 and 1990.
One of those records chronicled a 1985 concert tour featuring Near with fellow folk musicians Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Ronnie Gilbert.
Near also oversees about a dozen other artists on the label.
Meanwhile, she has never shed her activist ways.
Performances are mixed with social commentary about a variety of causes: from El Salvador to Nicaragua to a full gamut of feminist issues. In addition, she is an outspoken lesbian and supporter of gay rights.
Over the years, Near has raised $10 million to benefit some of these movements. Still, she does not like to be labeled exclusively a political activist/singer.
"People think, `Oh no: long hair, jeans, plays guitar, sings 40,000 verses about nuclear fuel,' " she told The Washington Post in 1989. "But I'm much more of a cabaret artist, really."
Indeed. Musically, Near, while decidedly folk, also sings old show tunes and standards. It is not at all surprising for her to mix "Stormy Weather" or "Come Rain or Come Shine" into her concerts.
She has never embraced the music business. Nor has it ever warmed to her. Near even wrote an autobiography, "Fire in the Rain . . . Singer in the Storm," about her forthright, uncompromising political views and the career road blocks she has faced as a result.