Holmes

Thanks for checking out my space. Stop Go is now available on my website and on iTunes . Following my spring Europe tour I'll be playing some sporadic live dates in California throughout the summer, so check back for details. In the meantime holla back, or silently type if you prefer. Thank you to all the radio stations who've been spinning the tracks!
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"Stacked with catchy songs that glisten with pop sheen... lush delicate and infectious... Just about as good as it gets"
- First Coast News
"Holmes is a singer-songwriter who pens the kind of melodic, unpretentious songs that scream for usage in film and TV. There's a humor, wistfulness and universality that would compare well with some of the best of Ben Folds or Beck"
- Los Angeles Times
"Seek this music out and your soul will be shaked and baked"
- PowerPopaholic
Holmes’ music career started in Boston where he worked as a bar pianist and session keyboardist while studying at Berklee College of Music. He then moved to NYC, working as a composer, and now resides in LA spending his time producing records, taking care of his aging dog, staying up late, occasionally composing for television and running his own record label. His music has been featured on television shows CSI Miami, The Hills, The OC, Sex and The City, Independent Lens, Without a Trace and Nip/Tuck; a Nissan Motors commercial; movies Poseidon and The Devil Wears Prada, as well as recent album compilations for Pepsi Cola, Tommy Bahama and The Sharper Image to name a few.
“I’ve always enjoyed records that reveal a bit of versatility – ones that draw from a number of different moods and styles” says Holmes (given name Roy Shakked), “My influences vary; my moods vary, and so I like to keep things moving in an attempt try to get a more complete picture”. Enlisting a group of friends that would make any record producer's mouth water - Guitarists Lyle Workman (Beck, Sting, Frank Black), Joel Shearer (Alanis Morissette, Ben Taylor) and Chris Bruce (Seal, Wendy & Lisa); Drummer Ramy Antoun (Seal, Alexi Murdoch, Goldspot); Cellist Sarah O'Brien (ELO, LA Philharmonic); Bassist Brett Simons (Alexi Murdoch, Liz Phair), and other close pals Holmes spent the winter of '06-'07 locked up in his home studio, bringing to fruition a long overdue project. Stop Go is brimming with influences from 70's era rock & roll with a nod towards The Beatles, but is produced with personal touches and an ear to the future. Effortlessly moving from power pop to hard-hitting rock to tender singer-songwriter ballads, the album stays true to a melodic core with Holmes' intimate voice as the anchor.
A man of many aliases Holmes is known to many for his Los Angeles record label Groove Gravy Records . Borrowing from a plethora of music genres and a variety of world flavors Holmes' production career reached a turning point as he recorded “Fresh Goods” - 2002's ultra-eclectic release under the pseudonym The Tao of Groove ( “Shakked's work could quite possibly take mixing to a whole new level." -The Oakland Tribune.) As Jazzelicious he has remixed classic tracks by Sarah Vaughan, Jimmy McGriff, McCoy Tyner and Carmen McRae among others, produced tracks for Shihan and Ursula Rucker and, in the process, has developed quite a distinctive musical style.
Stop Go represents a brand new direction - more introspective and largely reliant on Holmes' lyrics and vocals. From the existential to social commentary; relationship matters to just good old party songs Holmes delivers.
www.sweetholmes.com