Eric Holland's songs illuminate border issues
By CHRIS HANSEN ORF
Get Out

Singer/songwriter Eric Holland was living the good life as a tennis pro at some of the finest resorts in the world. His travels took him to Hong Kong, French Polynesia and Mexico, where he taught tanned, rich vacationers the art of the backhand and enjoyed plenty of torn-plum sunsets on the finest beaches known to man.

It was a life many everyday people would have killed for, but Eric Holland is not your everyday man.

Holland abruptly quit “the good life” to move to Seven Springs, north of Carefree in the far north East Valley, and became a teacher of English as a second language.

“I was pushing 40, which was an occupational hazard, and I needed to be grounded,” Holland says, laughing. “And I was sick of elaborate buffets.”
The singer quickly developed a spiritual connection with his middle school charges, some of whom immigrated to the United States from Mexico, illegally crossing to have a chance at a better life, only to face prejudice in their adoptive country.

“I had experienced racism firsthand,” Holland says of his time living in other countries. “I was always what the Hawaiians call a ‘haole,’ a derogatory term for a white man. I know what that feels like, so I have a kinship with the students.”

Holland's debut CD, “Without Borders (Sin Fronteras)” — from which half of all proceeds go to border reform organizations in southern Arizona — is a powerful disc that deals with the issues of the border head-on. The country/folk storytelling songs are often first-person narratives of the Mexican people struggling with crossing the hot desert, “coyotes” (people smugglers) and heartache.

“Many of the documented successful crossings in Arizona are accounts of young teenagers being sent by their families into America,” Holland explains. “They can't even afford to raise their sons. The kid makes it into America, but he never sees his mother again. He sends money back monthly but he can't go back. He is a hobbled horse with sacks full of gold.”

The songwriter, who began performing four years ago, became enamored of the songwriting skills of Tucson's "Singing Cowboy," Andy Hersey, and the Valley's Roger Clyne, both of whom feature Mexico in many of their songs. While Hersey and Clyne spin terrific tales of an adventurous, mythical Mexico, Holland is more into the sociopolitical angles of Mexican and Central American people.

“I want people to have compassion for what is happening on the border,” Holland says. “Illegal entry into America is not going to stop this month, and my songs are not written to encourage the crossings, but I want people to have an awareness of the reality of the issues.”

Holland also has been heavily influenced by Luis Alberto Urrea's nonfiction book “The Devil's Highway,” a harrowing account of 21 men who crossed the border into an area of Arizona called “the Devil's Highway,” with only nine surviving the trip. The finest cut on the singer's disc is a song of the same name.

Holland has become friends with Urrea, and the two frequently e-mail each other.

“That book is cold and strong and beautiful and real, and Luis is the voice for the Silent — the immigrants’ plight — by way of a book,” Holland explains. “That inspired me to be the voice for the Silent by way of song. My ‘Devil's Highway’ song has 80 percent of its facts taken from his book. I read it in an afternoon and wrote two songs lyrically and musically within two days.

“My philosophy on our shared border is this: Is it about which country wins or loses the immigration battle?” Holland continues. “The most common first name in Arizona in 2004 was ‘José,’ which surpassed Michael.”

For Holland, whose love of Mexico and its people has changed his life and given him a purpose in his art and in his teaching career, the singer takes on, through song, the cruel geographic and mental borders that Mexican nationals face every day. In his romantic ballad “My Señora of Sonora,” Holland sings, “How can a color be such an issue when crossin’ the same border line?”

“This is Arizona, U.S.A.,” Holland says emphatically, “a neighbor to an amazing country called Mexico.”

Eric Holland
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: El Paso Barbecue Company, 4921 E. Ray Road, Phoenix
How much: Free, all ages Information: or www.erichollandaz.com