Photo by Jeffery Bowling


Holly Bowling’s final installation of The Wilderness Sessions brought her to Moab, Utah, for an expansive set of Grateful Dead and Phish favorites.

The keyboardist – who also performs in the band Ghost Light – began with a far-reaching “St. Stephen,” which contained notes of “China Cat Sunflower” and jammed through Phish’s “Mercury” before returning to its original form.

The jammed-through set gave Bowling the chance to stretch out several other tracks before eventually touching back down with a closing “Stella Blue.”

“The final set of the Wilderness Sessions is so different from where the tour began,” Bowling wrote of the performance, “Moab is desert and sand, dry riverbeds and cacti, the rock formations all reds and oranges and golden hues. It felt nothing like the mountains and stone and rivers and towering forests of Yosemite and Lake Tahoe, pine needles always underfoot, the colors all grays, greens and blues. This last show was a really fun one to play. Some of them were like that – joyful and focused and a total escape from the events of this year. Some of them were really hard. Most of them were both… I’m so incredibly thankful that this crazy idea came to fruition, and I think playing these sets out in the wilderness probably saved me. Thanks to everyone who’s tuned in to listen and made it all possible. See you on the other side when we can all be together again.”

Performing coast to coast, Bowling offered all of these shows for free, but she encourages fans to drop her a tip – anyone who donates more than $10 will receive a special postcard corresponding to each location. She also created a new line of merch for the unique run.

Watch and check out the full setlist below:

Holly Bowling
Nov. 19, 2020
The Wilderness Sessions
Moab, Utah


St. Stephen* > Mercury > St. Stephen > William Tell Bridge > The Eleven > ** The Song I Heard the Ocean Sing > Stella Blue

Notes:
*w/ China Cat tease
** w/ St. Stephen teases