Holly Palmer (born c. 1971) is an American singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. She has released five albums as a solo artist, and has toured extensively as a vocalist with acts including David Bowie and Gnarls Barkley. She is also the "Cheesecake" partner in Bubbles & Cheesecake, an Internet-based, multi-media collaboration with multi-disciplinary artist Allee Willis. Other musicians with whom she has collaborated include Paula Cole, Dr. Dre, Billy Preston, Dave Navarro and Michael Bublé, among others.

Early years

Palmer was born in Santa Monica, California and grew up primarily in Redmond, Washington, near Seattle. and met with a positive response from critics, and featured contributions from Bill Frisell and John Leventhal. Surrounding its release, Holly toured the U.S. and Europe opening for artists including k.d. lang, Shawn Colvin and Paula Cole. In 1998, Holly went to London and began recording what was intended to be her second disc for the label, Tender Hooks, with producer Howie B, who has also produced albums with U2, Björk, and Robbie Robertson. She finished the album back in NYC with David Kahne (Regina Spektor, Sublime, The Bangles) producing two tracks. She amicably parted ways with Reprise, though, and the album remained unreleased for the time being.

In 1999, David Bowie invited Palmer to sing background vocals on his album Hours;

At the end of 2006, Palmer returned to Los Angeles to recommence her songwriting partnership with Willis. They originally intended to compose songs for the follow-up to Songs For Tuesday, but instead were inspired to write, perform, and record in full collaboration under the name Bubbles & Cheesecake. The name refers to Willis and Palmer's respective "alter-egos," and their first official single and video as Bubbles & Cheesecake, "It's a Woman Thang", was introduced with the launch of their interactive multi-media website in October 2007. The Willis and Palmer/Bubbles & Cheesecake collaboration encompasses hand-made music, videos, art work, animation, merchandise, online characters, stories, games, all embedded into a social networking initiative.

2007 also marked the release Songs For Tuesday on Bombshell Records. Palmer's fourth solo album, it was recorded live in front of an audience in a Los Angeles recording studio over the course of two days in September 2005. Among its highlights is the Willis-Palmer co-write "Girl in Lust", which, like "I Confess" from Holly's previous album, was later also recorded and performed by Bubbles & Cheesecake.

Palmer co-produced Songs For Tuesday with Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M.) – featured on drums – and Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck, Macy Gray, Ima Robot), the disc's bassist. The line-up also includes keyboardist Roger Manning (Jellyfish, Beck) and guitarist Lyle Workman (Beck, Todd Rundgren, Sting). Other song highlights include the bluesy "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know", the pop/R&B-flavored "I Will" (also featured in the 2005 Jessica Alba film Into The Blue), "Your Love Is Gonna Kill Me" and "That's Why They Call It Rome", for which Palmer has also created a video.

Palmer has contributed to a number of other recordings including singing background vocals on Dave Navarro's album Trust No One, writing and performing with Dobie on the track "I'll Be Your Everything" from the electronica compilation Burntprogress 1.1, and doing vocals and percussion on the disc 3 live set of David Bowie's Bowie at the Beeb. Her cover of the Bob Dylan song "All I Really Wanna Do" was included on the Party Of Five soundtrack ('96), and her compositions can also be heard in films including According to Spencer ("Something Else"), Forces of Nature ("A Rose By Any Other Name") and The Price of Kissing ("Scandinavian Ladies").

Palmer co-wrote the theme song to 2013 television series Mob City with Mark Isham entitled "Hello Again" and performed it.

She sang background vocals and played acoustic guitar for Broadway star Idina Menzel (Wicked, Rent) on her I Stand Tour.

Discography

Albums

  • Holly Palmer (1996, Warner Bros. Records)
  • Tender Hooks (2004, Bombshell Records)
  • I Confess (2004, Bombshell Records)
  • Songs for Tuesday (2007, Bombshell Records)
  • A Family Album (2017, Bombshell Records)

EPs

  • The Soul of Bubbles & Cheesecake EP (2007, Bubbles & Cheesecake Unlimited)

Music videos

  • "Different Languages"
  • "Just So You Know"
  • "That's Why They Call It Rome"
  • "It's a Woman Thang"

References

  • Official Holly Palmer Site
  • Official Bubbles & Cheesecake Site