"Somebody does something a little different and plenty of folks are ready to dub them a 'self-made man' or 'self-made woman.' But what Lonnie Holley does, and what he has made of himself, demands a whole new term. He truly is his own invention."

"Despite undeniable sonic and aesthetic connections to Sun Ra and Arthur Russell, Lonnie Holley's music is a law unto itself, with the inimitable blues orator free-forming at its core."

"He keeps people spellbound with his oratory, humor, and insights into art-making. Holley's art does the same. He makes the kind of sculpture–and produces the kind of music–that changes people. It gets into their emotional and intellectual core and forces them to rethink art and history, as well as their own assumptions about how the world works."