Hollingsworth purchased his first guitar at age 14, shortly after his father passed away. After starting and playing in a variety of bands including Verbena and The Dexateens,[4] he began gaining notoriety in 2002 with the now-defunct Taylor and the Puffs.[5] "Taylor and the Puffs" released Skybucket Records' first band recording You Know That Summer's Comin' in 2003.[6]
In 2005, Hollingsworth released Tragic City, a "gritty sludge-fest of a record,"[7] "recalling everyone from Alice Cooper to Dinosaur Jr. ... to T. Rex and early Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers."[8] His next album, Bad Little Kitty was released on July 29, 2008. The album was later nominated in the 8th Annual Independent Music Awards for "College Record Label Album of the year" in 2009.[9][10]
Hollingsworth was among several musicians, including Nik Freitas, Jason Boesel, Macey Taylor, and Nate Walcott to travel to Tepoztlán, Mexico in 2007 to contribute to Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst's new solo recordings.[3]Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band released 3 records during their 2007–2010 run, with Hollingsworth contributing several original songs[3] as well as cover of "Central City" from his album, Bad Little Kitty[11] that was rerecorded for the band's 2012 release One of My Kind.
Life with a Slow Ear came out on Oberst's Team Love Records label in November 2009. Paste called the album, which was recorded with Andy LeMaster, "a scrappy, bare-bones production formed out of a love for honest, straightforward rock 'n roll."[3]
Dead Fingers, a duo with wife Kate Taylor, released their first album in 2012 on Fat Possum Records,[12] earning them praise as "the first couple of new Alabama music."[13] As part of their best bands in all 50 states project, Paste Magazine named them one of 12 bands you should know from Alabama for tracks like "Ring Around Saturn" and "Hold on To" that "will bring to mind the collaboration between John Prine and Iris Dement."[14]
SDX (or "Sweet Dog Experience") is a two piece consisting of Hollingsworth and Craig "Sweetdog" Pickering.[15] They released Pawn and Gun, recorded by Memphis Punk Rock n' Roll Legend, Jack Oblivion in 2013 on Team Love Records.[16]
Dead Fingers released their second album Big Black Dog in 2014.[17] The video for "Shoom Doom Babba Labba" premiered on USA Today September 3, 2014.[18]
Hollingsworth toured with Conor Oberst throughout the U.S. and Europe playing in his backing band with members of The Felice Brothers in support of Oberst's recent release, Salutations.[22] On May 11, 2017, they played Oberst's "Too Late to Fixate" on The Late Late Show with James Corden[23] featuring former Beatles collaborator and Traveling Wilburys drummer, Jim Keltner on drums.[24] The Mystic Valley Band reunited for their first time since 2010 for a one-off New Year's Eve show at the Lodge Room in Highland Park, on December 31, 2017.[25] In mid 2018, they announced a 7-date reunion tour through California and Arizona, with special guest Phoebe Bridgers.[26]
In January 2019, Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers released Better Oblivion Community Center's debut studio album featuring only one non-Bridgers-Oberst composition,[27] a cover of Hollingsworth's song "Dominos"[28] from his album "Where To Go, How To Get There, And What You Should Know In Advance."[29] In June 2019, Paste Magazine premiered a new single from Hollingsworth entitled, "Devil N Me," from his new full-length record Tap Dancin' Daddy, out on Flower Moon Records called, calling it "the sound of the blues in 2019."[30]PopMatters premiered the titled track in July, saying it "calls to mind a '70s solo record from former Rolling StoneBill Wyman or the country colors of Ronnie Lane's Slim Chance."[31] Hollingsworth supported Better Oblivion Community Center on tour in August 2019, as an opener and performing with the band on occasion during their final west coast tour.[32]
Hollingsworth is also a mixed media artist who has shown his work at Birmingham's "Magic City Art Connection," an annual juried outdoor art show and festival,[36] Artwalk, Moss Rock Festival, and Rojo.[37] At the 2017 "Magic City Art Connection," Hollingsworth was invited to teach an interactive children's "junk art sculpture" class.[38]
Discography
Solo
Taylor and the Puffs – You Know That Summer's Comin (2003, Skybucket Records)
