Preview: Ellie Holcomb
March 15, 2017
Student Activities is excited to present An Evening with Ellie Holcomb on Friday, March 31 starting at 8 PM. Join us in the LaHaye Event Space as Ellie performs with special guest (and veteran of Student Activities concert events) Nicole Miller.
Tickets are on sale now on our website and are priced as follows:
- Students – $12 in advance
- Public – $17 in advance
- Door price – $23 for everyone
When you visit our website, just click the “Tickets” tab and select the type of ticket that is best for you.
Ellie Holcomb’s star has been steadily rising since the debut of her Magnolia EP in 2011. Of course, fans of Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors have heard her since their formation in the mid-2000s. However, her feature tracks such as “The Wine We Drink” (from Good Light) or “Magnolia” (from A Million Miles Away) have always begged for her to go solo. Her vocals are light and pretty, recalling Leigh Nash at times, elsewhere reminiscent of Metric’s Emily Haines, and occasionally approaching the sacred CCM ground of early Amy Grant. However, singers with nice vocals are a dime a dozen these days, which is why Ellie sets herself apart as an outstanding songwriter. To put it in that very Christian way of describing art, her songs are not just excellent “worship,” they are excellent songs that happen to have a very worshipful tone. It is no wonder, then, that she received the Dove award in 2014 for New Artist of the Year.
We are looking forward to hearing her latest effort, Red Sea Road, performed live. She describes it as her declaration of God’s faithfulness, a faithfulness she says both “surprised” and “delighted” her*. It is a faithfulness, she explained, experienced through her father’s cancer diagnosis prior to the recording of the album, and is most certainly the source of the deep and weighty lyrics throughout the album. She further describes it as “sing(ing) the truth into the dark”, and songs such as the title track are her declaration of the truth that God is near regardless of circumstances. Another theme throughout the album is that of worth, the reality that one’s value is nowhere but in Christ, having no basis in performance or other human measures, a message heard especially on “You Are Loved” and “Wonderfully Made”. The highest praise we can give to her work is that it is Psalm-like in the quality and content of the lyrics. It is a patient work, allowing for four and five minute tracks such as “You Love Me Best” and “Man of Sorrows”, as though allowing the truth to speak as it heals and mends each struggle she presents. Red Sea Road, like much of Ellie’s other music, is a beautiful, truth-saturated work, and we cannot wait to welcome her in concert on March 31.
Resources