Born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1954, Paul Hollowell developed a fascination with music at an early age. With a father who performed in singing groups and in church, along with three brothers and one sister who played piano, it wasn’t long before Paul followed suit. He began taking piano lessons himself at the age of five, and by ten he was performing in his family’s quartet. Paul ...
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Born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1954, Paul Hollowell developed a fascination with music at an early age. With a father who performed in singing groups and in church, along with three brothers and one sister who played piano, it wasn’t long before Paul followed suit. He began taking piano lessons himself at the age of five, and by ten he was performing in his family’s quartet. Paul continued piano lessons through high school. Attending college for a year after graduation, he took a job at a factory before receiving a phone call that would later lead him to his destiny as a professional musician.
When Hollowell got the call from an old college friend living in Nashville who wanted him to audition for a band, he jumped at the chance. That opportunity led him to Music City in 1975, and soon after he landed a job working on the Grand Ole Opry with Skeeter Davis. That job led to stints playing for artists like Carl Perkins, JJ Cale, Ray Stevens, and Barbara Fairchild, and opened the door for session work, which Paul has been doing ever since. He has performed on projects for Dolly Parton, Michelle Wright, Robert Ellis Orrall, Linda Davis, Reba McEntire, and others during his successful 41-year career in Nashville.
In 1991 he worked hand in hand developing songs with Dolly Parton for her Disney movie project “Straight Talk”, which led to a job playing piano in her touring band during 1992 and 1993. Along with legendary guitarist Brent Mason in 1992, he wrote, produced, and played on a library CD of commercial instrumental music titled “Hot Fingers”. This project has been used extensively on network TV shows such as “Friends”, “Everybody Loves Raymond”, “King of Queens”, “60 Minutes”, and “48 Hours”. In 1993, Hollowell was offered a job with Reba McEntire and toured with her through the 2000 season. During his tenure, McEntire provided him the opportunity to work on her TV specials and videos, as well as her 1996 album release, “What If It’s You”.
He returned to touring as the piano player for Dolly Parton in 2005, and played piano on the 2007 and 2008 American and European tours, as well the 2011 Better Day World Tour and 2014’s Blue Smoke World Tour, encompassing the US, Europe, and Australia. He is currently touring with country music legend John Anderson, as well as continuing his recording work in Nashville.

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