I Draw Slow in Parker Press Park w/opener Jay Nash

Name: I Draw Slow in Parker Press Park w/opener Jay Nash
Start: 2025-07-02T19:30:00-04:00
Location: Parker Press Park

Schedule

Wed, 02 Jul, 2025 at 07:30 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Parker Press Park | Woodbridge, NJ

I Draw Slow is one of the most unique bands on the Americana scene. Fronted by brother/sister songwriting team Dave Holden (guitar/vocals) and Louise Holden (vocals), this Dublin, Ireland-based group sits squarely at the crossroads of Irish and Appalachian music and has received critical praise for an original sound that bridges the gap between traditional Irish and American roots music.
Sonically, the traditional Irish and Appalachian influences that informed I Draw Slow’s prior releases have been augmented by a much wider range of influences, including sixties pop, cinematic soundscapes and the funereal jazz of New Orleans. Lyrically, the new tracks pulled storytelling and tradition apart. As Louise says: “The new music represents tradition in the mixed up way that people live now, with the stories we tell to stop ourselves from going crazy and the false memories we build ourselves upon.”
I DRAW SLOW starts with the arresting opener “Bring out Your Dead”, a track that would not be out of place on Fleetwood Mac’s album TUSK (if the Mac played trad Irish music), with vocal echos of The Mamas & The Papas thrown in for good measure. The band then channels New Orleans trad jazz on the track “Trouble”, replete with rudimental snare and mournful brass. And on the duet “Queen of the Wasteland”, adorned by clawhammer banjo, fiddle and acoustic guitar lines, IDS draws upon Ireland’s long folk song and storytelling tradition to create a neo-folk classic that is both timely and timeless.
With the release of their new album, I Draw Slow further cements their reputation as one of the most interesting groups on the Americana/roots scene. Coaxing the past into the present, they have created a very personal sonic tapestry that has drawn fans on both sides of the pond and earned them slots on some of the most important festival stages across North America including MerleFest, Edmonton Folk Festival, Rocky Grass and Wintergrass.

Opener Jay Nash
As a kid I had been listening to bands like Def Leppard, Quiet Riot and Kiss on expandable suitcase-record player since I was seven, which was all well and good. But, it was the sound of the Grateful Dead, emanating from my Sanyo boombox, as I laid in my bunk bed, that reconnected me to the world, humanity and I dare say, the universe. There was a language of truth that I had never heard before in Jerry Garcia’s fiery playing (circa the 1971, ‘Skull and Roses’ release), that intertwined in conversation, chorus and harmony with Bob Weir’s, glassy, rhythmic punctuations. The entire band was communicating with each other and it’s audience in way that I could barely comprehend. Suddenly, I was no longer alone.
Shortly thereafter, I flipped that 90 minute Maxell tape over and discovered a resonance of similar amplitude in the songs and voice of Cat Stevens. Of course, his music was of a completely different shade, but the connection was just as strong. It was clear to me, at that moment, in my eleven year old mind, that Cat had pondered the same questions and fears that I had in my early existentialism. Again I realized, I was not alone.
What followed between then and now, was probably not all that different than the experience that many American songwriters have had growing up. My uncle gave me a guitar, I became obsessed with the recordings of the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and the like, and I began to figure out how to play some songs. Slowly (though not particularly surely) I would also begin to find my voice as a singer, a player and a writer. Eventually, I found my way to New York City, then on to Los Angeles and onto stages all across the land.