Holly Near (born June 6, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, teacher, and activist.

Early years

Holly Near was born in

Ukiah, California Ukiah ( ; Pomo: ''Yokaya'', meaning "deep valley") is the county seat and largest city of Mendocino County, California, with a population of 16,607 at the 2020 census. With its accessible location along the U.S. Route 101 corridor, Ukiah serves ...

, United States, and was raised on a ranch in

Potter Valley, California Potter Valley is a census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located north-northeast of Ukiah, at an elevation of at the headwaters of the East Fork Russian River. The CDP population was 665 at the 2020 cens ...

. She was eight years old when she first performed publicly, and she auditioned for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

when she was ten. She sang in all the high school musicals, talent shows and often was invited to sing at gatherings of local service groups, such as the Soroptimist Club, Lions Club, and Garden Club. Her senior year she played

Eliza Doolittle Eliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play ''Pygmalion'' (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, ''My Fair Lady''. Eliza (from Lisson Grove, London) is a Cockney flower woman, who comes to Profe ...

in the

Ukiah High School Ukiah High School (also referred to as UHS or "Ukiahi") is the oldest public high school in Ukiah, California, the seat of Mendocino County. Established in 1893, it is the largest school by enrollment and only four-year comprehensive high schoo ...

production of ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...

''. In the summer Near attended performing arts camps such as Perry-Mansfield in Colorado and Ramblerny Performing Arts where she studied with jazz musicians

Phil Woods Philip Wells Woods (November 2, 1931 – September 29, 2015) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, and composer. Biography Woods was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. After inheriting a saxophone at age 12, he began ...

and his wife,

Chan Parker Chan Woods (born Beverly Delores Berg, also known as Chan Richardson; 29 June 1925 – 9 September 1999), was a common-law wife of jazz musician Charlie Parker. She later married musician Phil Woods. She was born in New York City to an inter-r ...

(Parker was married to Woods but retained the name Parker from her earlier,

common law marriage Common-law marriage, also known as non-ceremonial marriage, marriage, informal marriage, or marriage by habit and repute, is a legal framework where a couple may be considered married without having formally registered their relation as a civil ...

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

), and modern dancer/choreographer Joyce Trisler. After starting high school in 1963, Near began singing with three boys who called themselves the Freedom Singers, a folk group modeled after

The Kingston Trio The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, ...

. When Near joined, they began to sound more like

The Weavers The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City originally consisting of Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman. Founded in 1948, the group sang traditional folk songs fro ...

, with three male voices and one female. Near learned later of the original

Freedom Singers The Freedom Singers originated as a quartet formed in 1962 at Albany State College in Albany, Georgia. After folk singer Pete Seeger witnessed the power of their congregational-style of singing, which fused black Baptist ''a cappella'' church singin ...

who sang as part of the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

. Unbeknownst to her, Near would soon meet one of the founding members of that group, Dr.

Bernice Johnson Reagon Bernice Johnson Reagon (born Bernice Johnson on October 4, 1942) is a song leader, composer, scholar, and social activist, who in the early 1960s was a founding member of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee's (SNCC) Freedom Singers in t ...

, an artist who would be a great influence for the next 40-plus years. She would also meet and work with the female singer in The Weavers,

Ronnie Gilbert Ruth Alice "Ronnie" Gilbert (September 7, 1926 – June 6, 2015), was an American folk singer, songwriter, actress and political activist. She was one of the original members of the music quartet the Weavers, as a contralto with Pete Seeger, Le ...

. After high school, Near enrolled in the Theatre Arts program at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

; her freshman year she got the lead in the UCLA production of ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

'' playing soprano Sarah Brown. Because Near was trained in a lower range she got nodules on her vocal cords and had to leave the show. She entered in to a long period of silence until her voice healed. After one year, she left UCLA and began to work in film and television as well as with

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

groups such as

Another Mother for Peace Another Mother for Peace (AMP) is a grass-roots anti-war advocacy group founded in 1967 in opposition to the U.S. war in Vietnam. The association is "dedicated to eliminating the use of war as a means of solving disputes among nations, people and ...

Career

Holly Near Performs at March For Women's Lives 2004

Near's professional career began in 1969 with a part on the television show ''

The Mod Squad ''The Mod Squad'' is an American crime drama series, originally broadcast for five seasons on ABC from September 24, 1968, to March 1, 1973. It starred Michael Cole as Peter "Pete" Cochran, Peggy Lipton as Julie Barnes, Clarence Williams III as ...

'', which was followed by appearances in other shows, such as ''

Room 222 ''Room 222'' is an American comedy-drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox Television that aired on ABC for 112 episodes, from September 17, 1969 until January 11, 1974. The show was broadcast on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 ( EST) fo ...

,'' ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series '' Archie Bunker's Place'', which picked up where ''All in ...

,'' and ''

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from Se ...

.'' She also appeared in ''

Angel, Angel, Down We Go ''Angel, Angel, Down We Go'', also known as ''Cult of the Damned'', is a 1969 American film directed by playwright and screenwriter Robert Thom, his sole directorial credit. Thom based his screenplay on an unproduced stage play of the same title ...

'', ''

Slaughterhouse-Five ''Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death'' is a 1969 semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It follows the life and experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to h ...

'', and ''

Minnie and Moskowitz ''Minnie and Moskowitz'' is a 1971 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cassavetes and starring his wife Gena Rowlands and Seymour Cassel in the title roles of Minnie and Moskowitz, respectively. Plot Seymour Moskow ...

''. Much later, she had a prominent role in the 1991 film ''

Dogfight A dogfight, or dog fight, is an aerial battle between fighter aircraft conducted at close range. Dogfighting first occurred in Mexico in 1913, shortly after the invention of the airplane. Until at least 1992, it was a component in every majo ...

''. She was briefly a member of the musical comedy troupe First National Nothing and appeared on the troupe's only album ''If You Sit Real Still and Hold My Hand, You Will Hear Absolutely Nothing'', released in 1970 on Columbia Records. In 1970, Near was a cast member of the Broadway musical ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

''. Following the

Kent State shootings The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre and the Kent State massacre,"These would be the first of many probes into what soon became known as the Kent State Massacre. Like the Boston Massacre almost exactly two hundred years bef ...

in May of that year, the entire cast staged a silent vigil in protest. The song "It Could Have Been Me" (released on ''A Live Album,'' 1974) was her response to the shootings. In 1971, she joined the FTA (Free The Army) Tour, an

anti-Vietnam War Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War (before) or anti-Vietnam War movement (present) began with demonstrations in 1965 against the escalating role of the United States in the Vietnam War and grew into a broad social move ...

road show of music, comedy, and plays that performed for soldiers, many of whom were resisting war and racism from within the military. The tour was organized by antiwar activist Fred Gardner and actors

Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, sev ...

and

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films ''Citizen X'' (1995) an ...

. Near was only 21 and the youngest member of the troupe. In 1972, Near founded an independent record label called Redwood Records to produce and promote music by "politically conscious artists from around the world". She was one of the first women to found an independent record company. Near's record company went out of business in the mid-1990s due to financial difficulties. During her long career in folk and

protest music A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

, Near has worked with a wide array of musicians, including

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father, Woody Guthrie. Gut ...

, Mercedes Sosa,

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...

, Meg (Shambhavi) Christian,

Cris Williamson Cris Williamson (born 1947) is an American feminist singer-songwriter and recording artist. She was a visible lesbian political activist, during an era when few who were unconnected to the lesbian community were aware of Homosexual, Gay and Lesb ...

Linda Tillery Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake ...

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...

Phil Ochs Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American songwriter and protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer). Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and ...

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...

, and many others, as well as the Chilean exile group

Inti-Illimani Inti-Illimani (; from Quechuan ''Inti'' and Aymara '' Illimani)'' are an instrumental and vocal Latin American folk music ensemble from Chile. The band was formed in 1967 by a group of university students and it acquired widespread popularity in ...

. Near wrote an autobiography in the early 1990s titled ''Fire in the Rain, Singer in the Storm''. Later, with her sister Timothy, Near co-wrote a one-woman show based on the stories in the book. The show was presented at The San Jose Rep and in Los Angeles at The

Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of Downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighboring ...

, as well as productions in San Francisco and off Broadway in NYC. In April 2004, Near performed at the

March for Women's Lives The March for Women's Lives was a protest demonstration held on April 25, 2004 at the National Mall in Washington, D. C. There was approximately 1.3 million participants. The demonstration was led by seven groups; National Organization for Wo ...

in Washington, DC where she sang "We Are Gentle Angry People" and "Fired Up" a capella. As of 2019, she has a discography of 29 albums. She is still active as a performer and composer, and she has begun issuing CDs available through her website that include tracks from her out-of-print albums. Her song "Singing For Our Lives" appears in '' Singing the Living Tradition'', the official hymnal of the

Unitarian Universalist Association Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, both P ...

, under the title "We Are A Gentle, Angry People" (Hymn #170). The hymn was performed by Quaker Friends in an episode of the TV series '' Six Feet Under''. In 2015, the same song, credited as "Singing for Our Lives" appeared in the Australian independent film '' The Lives We Lead'', alongside its theme song "I Am Willing", another protest song written by Near. Near hosted many of the tributes to both Pete Seeger and Ronnie Gilbert, two members of the seminal folk group The Weavers. Near has been an honored guest at several of the

GALA Choruses The Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses ("GALA Choruses") is an international association of LGBT choruses founded in 1982. In its inaugural performance 14 choruses performed together in September 1982 in San Francisco as part of the first Gay ...

Festivals, a conference of GLBTQ choirs and choruses. She also appears as a soloist with several of the choruses and many of her songs have been arranged for choral singing. In 2018, Near released a new recording titled ''2018'', reflecting on issues including the environment, aging, domestic violence and the unresolved storm damage in Puerto Rico as a result of

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Saffir–Simpson scale#Category 5, Category 5 Tropical cyclone, hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the wo ...

. In October 2018, a documentary film titled ''Holly Near: Singing for Our Lives'' made by director

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one ...

premiered at the

Mill Valley Film Festival The Mill Valley Film Festival is an annual American film festival founded in 1977. History In October 1977, Mark Fishkin, Rita Cahill and Lois Cole organized a three-day film festival. It featured three film tributes, Francis Ford Coppola's ''T ...

, detailing Near's life and work.

Personal life

As a result of her travels in the Pacific with the

FTA show The ''FTA Show'' (or ''FTA Tour'' or ''Free The Army tour''), a play on the common troop expression "Fuck The Army" (which in turn was a play on the army slogan "Fun, Travel and Adventure"), was a 1971 anti-Vietnam War road show for GIs designed ...

, Near became a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, linking international

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and

activism. In 1976, Near came out as a lesbian and began a three-year relationship with musician

Meg Christian Meg Christian (born 1946 in Lynchburg, Virginia) is an American folk singer associated with the women's music movement. Early life and career Christian was born in Tennessee in 1946 and raised in Lynchburg, Virginia. She has spoken about bei ...

. She added

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

issues to her international peace work as she continued to present

social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Definition Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or sociocult ...

music around the world and at home. Although Near was one of the most visible artists in the lesbian community, she was also becoming aware that "

monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a form of Dyad (sociology), dyadic Intimate relationship, relationship in which an individual has only one Significant other, partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (Monogamy#Serial monogamy, ...

" defined her sexuality more than any other title. Near has been in a relationship with a man since 1994. However, she does not identify as bisexual. When asked why in a 2010 interview by JD Doyle for ''Queer Music Heritage'', she replied, Near is dedicated to the rights of LGBT communities and continues to work to create a cultural forum for diversity. She writes, "For many, sexual identity and/or gender identity is the primary door through which they walk. It is what politicized them. It is what feeds their emotional and spiritual perspectives. I totally honor this. Even though sexual preference is maybe 5th or 10th on my personal list of priorities now, I will always work for all of us to have self-determination over our bodies, our identities, our relationship choices." In 2014, Near was diagnosed with breast cancer. With early detection, she had successful surgery and radiation but did not undergo chemotherapy.

Awards and honors

Near has been recognized many times for her work for social change, including honors from the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

, the

National Lawyers Guild The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is a progressive public interest association of lawyers, law students, paralegals, jailhouse lawyers, law collective members, and other activist legal workers, in the United States. The group was founded in 19 ...

, the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

NARAS The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy A ...

, ''

Ms. Magazine ''Ms.'' is an American feminist magazine co-founded in 1971 by journalist and social/political activist Gloria Steinem. It was the first national American feminist magazine. The original editors were Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Mary Thom, Patricia Ca ...

'' (Woman of the Year), and the Legends of Women's Music Award. In 1989, Near received a Doctorate of Humane Letters from

World College West World College West was an undergraduate liberal arts college in Marin County, California. Founded by Dr. Richard M. Gray, it offered a program that integrated a grounding in the liberal arts with work-study and a required two-quarter "World Stud ...

in California. Near was named among the "1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize". Near was named as an Honoree for National Women's History Month for 2015.

Discography

* ''Hang in There'', Redwood Records (1973) (Theme: support of the people of Vietnam) * ''A Live Album'', Redwood Records (1975) * ''You Can Know All I AM'', Redwood Records (1976) * ''Imagine My Surprise'', Redwood Records (1978) (with Meg Christian) * ''Fire in the Rain'', Redwood Records (1981) produced by

June Millington June Millington (born April 14, 1948) is a Filipina-American guitarist, songwriter, producer, educator, and actress. She was the co-founder and lead guitarist of the all-female rock band Fanny, which was active from 1970 to 1974. Millington has ...

* ''Speed of Light'', Redwood Records (1982) * ''Journeys'', Redwood Records (1983) * ''Lifeline'', Redwood Records (1983) (with Ronnie Gilbert) * ''Watch Out!'', Redwood Records (1984) (with John McCutcheon and Trapezoid) * ''Sing to Me the Dream'', Redwood Records (1984) (with Inti Illimani) * ''HARP'', Redwood Records (1985) (with Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert and Arlo Guthrie) * ''Singing With You'', Redwood Records (1987) (with Ronnie Gilbert) * ''Don't Hold Back'', Redwood Records (1987) * ''Sky Dances'', Redwood Records (1989) * ''Singer in the Storm'', Chameleon Music Group (1990) (with Mercedes Sosa) * ''Musical Highlights'', Redwood Records/Calico tracks Music (1993) (from the play ''Fire in the Rain'' written by Holly Near & Timothy Near) * ''This Train Still Runs'', Abbe Alice Music (1996) (with Ronnie Gilbert) * ''With a Song in My Heart'', Calico Tracks Music (1997) (songs from the 30s & 40s) (pianist

John Bucchino John Bucchino (born 1952) is an American songwriter of both lyrics and music, an accompanist, a cabaret performer, and a teacher. He has been called "super-talented". Stephen Schwartz said his songs have "insightful lyrics and gorgeous melodies", ...

) * ''Edge'', Calico Tracks Music (2000) * ''Cris & Holly'', HC Recordings (2003) (with Cris Williamson, pianist John Bucchino) * ''Show Up'', Calico Tracks Music (2006) * ''Sing to Me the Dream'', Calico Tracks Music (2008) (an historic live recording of the 1984 Peace in the Americas Tour with Inti Illimani) * ''We Came to Sing'', Calico Tracks Music (2009) (with Emma's Revolution) * ''Peace Becomes You'', Calico Tracks Music (2012) * ''2018'', Calico Tracks Music (2018)

Re-releases

* ''Simply Love: The Women's Music Collection'', Calico Tracks Music (2000) (songs focused on feminism & lesbian issues) * ''HARP: A Time to Sing'', Appleseed Recordings (2001) (with Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert and Arlo Guthrie, reissued as a 2-CD set from the 1985 ''HARP'' recording) * ''Early Warnings'', Appleseed Recordings (2001) (selections from ''Sky Dances'' and ''Watch Out!'' combined) * ''Lifeline Extended'', Appleseed Recordings (2002) (with Ronnie Gilbert) * ''And Still We Sing: The Outspoken Collection'', Calico Tracks Music (2002) (with Rhiannon, Inti Illimani, Ronnie Gilbert, HARP, Mercedes Sosa, Brian Lane Green—an historic collection of songs from previous recordings focused on social change and activism) * ''Crushed: The Love Song Collection'', Calico Tracks Music (2002) (a collection of love songs from earlier recordings) * ''Hang In There'', Redwood Records (1973) . Reissued Calico Tracks Music (2018) * ''Imagine My Surprise'', Redwood Records, (1978); Reissued Calico Tracks Music (2018) * ''Fire In The Rain'', Redwood Records, (1981) Reissued on Calico Tracks Music, (2018) * ''Speed of Light'', Redwood Records, (1982); Reissued Calico Tracks Music (2018) * ''Watch Out'', Redwood Records, (1984); Reissued Calico Tracks Music (2018) * ''Skydances'', Redwood Records, (1989); Reissued Calico Tracks Music, (2018)

Compilations

* ''Michigan Live '85: 10th Michigan Womyn's Music Festival'', August Night Records (1985) "Fight Back" (solo), "Oh Mary Don't You Weep" (with Ronnie Gilbert and Linda Tillery) and "Waterfall" (with Rhiannon) * ''Ben & Jerry's Newport Folk Festival'', Alcazar Records (1988) "Step it Out Nancy" * ''Ben & Jerry's Newport Folk Festival, Vol. 2'', Alcazar Records (1988) "Once or Twice" * ''Live from El Salvador'', Redwood Records (1991) "Hay Una Mujer Desaparecida" (with Barbara Higbie) * ''Rainbow Sign'', Rounder Records (1992) "Oh, Mary Don't You Weep" (with Ronnie Gilbert, Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger) * ''Cabaret Noël: A Broadway Cares Christmas'', Lockett Palmer Records (1993) "O Holy Night" (with Brian Lane Green) * ''The Story of the Chicken Made of Rags'', Soul Vibrations, Redwood Records (1993) "Oh Me! Oh My!" * ''George & Ira Gershwin: A Musical Celebration'', MCA Records (1994) "But Not for Me" * ''Lifelines'', (Peter Paul & Mary) Warner Brothers (1995) "Home is Where the Heart Is" (duet with Mary Travers) * ''Winter Moon: A Celebration of Gay and Lesbian Singers and Songwriters... and Friends'', Streeter Music (1995) "Change of Heart" * ''Pink Album'', The Seattle Men's Chorus (1996) "Ella's Song", "Our Love is Soaring Across the Land" and "The Great Peace March" * ''The Gay 90s Musical: Looking Back…Moving On…'' Varèse Sarabande Records (1997) "Simply Love" * ''Folk Live from Mountain Stage'', Blue Plate Records (1997) "Sun Won't Stop" * ''Fruit Cocktail'', Streeter Music (1997) "The Right to Love" (with Adrienne Torf) * ''Where Have All the Flowers Gone: The Songs of Pete Seeger'', Appleseed Records (1998) "Quiet Early Morning" * ''A Love Worth Fighting For: A Celebration of Gay and Lesbian Singers and Songwriters'', Streeter Music (2000) "Sit With Me" * ''Change of Heart'', The Women's Chorus of Dallas (2001) "Change of Heart," "Sun Won't Stop" and "The Great Peace March" * ''Seeds: The Songs of Pete Seeger, Vol. 3'', Appleseed Recordings (2003) "Precious Friend" (with Ronnie Gilbert, Robin Flower and Libby McLaren) * ''Glass Half Full'', Grazie Recordings (2006) "Gracias a La Vida" (with John Buccino) * ''Needle in the Groove: Women Singing for Social Change'' (2006) "Fired Up" * ''Sowing the Seeds – The 10th Anniversary'', Appleseed Recordings (2007) "Somos El Barco" (with Ronnie Gilbert, Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger)

Filmography

* ''

'' (1969), Tara Nicole Steele * ''

The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart ''The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart'' is a 1970 American film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) about a confused college student's experiences with sex, relationships, and drugs in late 1960s New York City. Produced by Martin Poll and direct ...

'' (1970), Fran * ''

The Todd Killings ''The Todd Killings'' is a 1971 psychological thriller directed by Barry Shear and starring Robert F. Lyons, Richard Thomas, Belinda Montgomery, and Barbara Bel Geddes. It is based on the true crimes of serial killer Charles Schmid in the 19 ...

'' (1971), Norma * ''

'' (1971), Irish * ''

F.T.A. ''F.T.A.'' is a 1972 United States, American documentary film starring Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland and directed by Francine Parker, which follows a 1971 Opposition to the US involvement in the Vietnam War, anti-Vietnam War road show for G.I ...

'' (1972), Herself * ''

'' (1972), Barbara Pilgrim * '' The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time!'' (1982), Herself (documentary interview) * '' Women of Summer'' (1985), Herself (documentary; performance at reunion) * ''

'' (1991), Rose Sr. * ''

Heartwood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin tha ...

'' (1998), Lucille Burris * ''

Radical Harmonies ''Radical Harmonies'' is a 2002 American independent documentary film directed and executive produced by Dee Mosbacher that presents a history of women's music, which has been defined as music by women, for women, and about women. The film was s ...

'' (2002) Herself (documentary; includes brief interview and archival performance footage) * ''Holly Near: Singing For Our Lives'' (2018) Herself (documentary by Jim Brown; aired on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

American Masters ''American Masters'' is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and those who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the ...

'' series in 2019)

Television movies

* ''Mr. and Mrs. Cop'' (1974), Mrs. Salmon

TV appearances

* '' The Bold Ones: The Senator'', Sylvia – in the episode "Power Play" (1970) * ''

'', Esther – in the episode "The Lincoln Story" (1970) * ''

'', Mona – in the episode "Gloria Has a Belly Full" (1971) * ''

'', Phyllis – in the episode "The Selling of the Partridges" (1973) * ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series that ran for eight seasons on NBC, from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it centers on the partners, associates and staff of a Los ...

'', Lucille Skerritt – in the episode "Spleen It to Me, Lucy" (1991)

References

External links

* * * * *
Women's Music Archives records and collected music
at the

Sophia Smith Collection The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history. General One of the largest recognized repositories of manuscripts, ar ...

, Smith College Special Collections * {{DEFAULTSORT:Near, Holly 1949 births Living people American women singer-songwriters American feminists American anti–Vietnam War activists LGBT rights activists from the United States American pacifists American folk singers Political music artists Feminist musicians LGBT people from California Columbia Records artists People from Ukiah, California Singer-songwriters from California Actresses from California American television actresses American film actresses American stage actresses Activists from California Women's music University of California, Los Angeles alumni LGBT singers from the United States 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers