RC Holmes

What does R.C. Holmes bring to the world of music? For one thing, versatility. He is a gifted vocalist, musician, and composer whose skill is palpable in his renditions of soul, jazz, hip hop, R&B, and gospel. He has integrity, depth of emotion, and passion — the hallmark of a great artist.

In today’s media industry where most executives and audiences are obsessed with finding the “next new thing,” it is rare for a youthful musician to seemingly master the sounds of the past. When such an artist is found, one may suggest that person has an old soul, has lived before, or has come with a message of old for modern times. R.C. Holmes embodies all of these descriptors… and much more.

A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, R.C. displayed strong musical ability from the age of six, when his mother found him on the family’s piano playing music that he had overheard as his older sister prepared for her piano lessons. R.C. grew to recognize that a love for music was the very essence of his being. He decided to study music formally and moved to New Orleans to attend Loyola University, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education. While in New Orleans, R.C. co-founded the band Mental Metropolis, whose notoriety quickly grew and resulted in the band taking the stage to open up for such headliners as The Roots, Outkast, and Run DMC. R.C., along with Mental Metropolis, also made a cameo appearance on MTV’s The Real World during its New Orleans season.

In 2002, R.C. moved to the Maryland/Washington, D.C. area to concentrate on his solo career. He took his talents to the NowChild Sound Stage, Club Five, Café Mawonaje and the University of Maryland-College Park. A few years later, R.C. relocated to Philadelphia where he has wowed audiences at World Café Live, The Five Spot, the West Oak Lane Jazz Festival, La Salle University, Swarthmore College, and the University Of The Arts. R.C. was also featured at Nyack’s Mostly Music Festival and has been a return performer at the Hudson House in New York. Recently, R.C. gave his first international performance in front of an appreciative audience in Colombo, Sri Lanka. R.C. is looking forward to future performances in Australia, Asia, and the Middle East.

When Holmes left his native Louisiana, it can be said that the South did not leave him. R.C. has stayed true to his roots. One only needs to sample his work to hear the rich colors of southern music genres, merging on the canvas in vibrant brushstrokes that portray the man himself. R.C.’s influences are extremely eclectic, as he incorporates sounds and ideas from bebop, cool, delta blues, New Orleans brass band, reggae, gospel, classical, hip hop, and country music. As R.C. puts it, “My songs are about pain that comes with searching for and finding oneself, about joy and peace in triumphing over the pain, and most importantly, about God, the creator and sustainer who has a plan and purpose for our lives.”

R.C.’s music is timeless, with a maturity that belies his youth. A river of melted chocolate flows through his voice and this velvety smoothness spills over into his compositions and his mastery of the baritone horn. He also plays the djembe drum, flugelhorn, and valve trombone. As a songwriter, vocalist, producer, score arranger, and poet, R.C. is an extremely-capable one-man melody machine, tying old-school influences to edgy hip-hop sounds…creating songs that reach the souls of music lovers of all ages.

R.C. Holmes is a precious gift, yet unwrapped; a story, untold; a power to be unleashed on an unsuspecting public. In his own words, “Music is my gift, and a gift cannot be called so until it is given away.” R.C. currently resides in El Paso, Texas and is concentrating on distributing his long-awaited debut CD and continuing to share his art with the world.