What do you do?
My name is Holly Williams, I am currently living between Nashville and LA.
I am a singer/songwriter originally from Nashville. Sometimes I try to
escape the pressure of writing country songs because of my family(my
grandfather is Hank Williams and my dad is Hank Williams Jr.) The Chelsea
inspires me, I have been touring all year so I'm taking time off and
currently working on my next album.
When and for how long did you stay at the Chelsea?
On and off many times from 2001 to the present, sometimes it's haunted...but I trust they are good spirits. The Sid and Nancy escapade is a bit eery sometimes though...
Do you think there is a creative energy in the Chelsea?
Definitely! Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Hendrix, Tennessee Williams, Tom Waits...What more can I say? The list of genius names is endless....
How has staying in the Chelsea affected your creative development?
It makes me want to be as honest bnd raw as I possibly can. It makes me write things that I care about, and forget about what other people want. Chelsea Hotel #2 by Leonard Cohen is a brilliant song, along with many others written about that magical place.
What other creative people at the Chelsea or elsewhere have influenced your development?
I listed a few of them above...from the songwriters to the authors to the incredible painters who have lived and breatheed and created there, I soak in as much of it as I can.
What's the best thing that has ever happened to you at the Chelsea?
hmmm...the bar downstairs is one of my favorite places. I love taking baths and lighting candles in those old clawfoot tubs. Writing some of my best songs that were on my first album, that's the best thing that's ever happened to me at the Chelsea...
Next week, jazz musician Alfred Harth takes us back to the 1970s. "Stepping into the lobby I wondered about all that art-pieces by famous people hanging like on a fleamarket & kind of dusty all over the lobby."
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