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Malcolm Holcombe Tricks Of The Trade Need To Know/Proper
By this stage in his career, I reckon that those who are drawn to Malcolm Holcombe’s idiosyncratic take on Appalachian dirt folk and blues are already fans. His catalogue contains some seventeen albums, fifteen of which have been released since the start of the 2000’s. His respect among his peers has never diminished and he has always attracted players who understand the wisdom of his words. This album was produced by Brian Brinkerhoff and Dave Roe. Roe also handles the bass duties and is joined on most tracks by his son Jerry on drums. Long-time supporter Jared Tyler is also back here. Add to that backing vocals and contributions from Mary Gauthier and Jaimee Harris and some cello from Ron de la Vega (on Lenora Cynthia) and you have a a set of players willing to do justice to Holcombe’s often deliberately opaque writing. Equally, though, other tracks lay out tales of hard times and hardened hearts. Your Kin would be an example of this, where a family have to face the unpalatable truth wherein “the cops take away your children.” What is also a pleasant surprise is the melodic catchiness of Misery Loves Company, which belies its lyrics of a bar-room’s neon darkness of the psyche. The closing song Shakey Ground is another song that gets its melody and chorus firmly embedded in your head. Elsewhere in Higher Ground he notes that he has the “ freedom to choose / I got freedom to loose.”, suggesting that the path that we all get to chose is as much a choice as it is a destiny.
He has been described as a songwriter’s songwriter, with many of his contemporaries recognising his skill in that department. Equally he has a rough-hewn baritone voice that has the grit of a dirt road and the pain of experience. Behind his own deep inhabitation of his songs the assembled players are indispensable to Holcombe deliver wherein the voice, words and music create something more powerful than the individual components involved. There is a lyric booklet included, which is a help and although it is not difficult to make out the words, it is possibly a little harder to completely understand his meaning in every song or phrase.
Never-the-less this is perhaps one of the best sounding collections of songs that Holcombe has recorded to date and is, while maybe the word ‘enjoyable’ may not be the right term, a testament to a very unique performer and his talent as storyteller, whose music always leaves its mark on the listener. He is prolific in his output compared to some of those he first appeared alongside back in 1994 with his first album and long may he continue to adds his vision to this uncertain world.
Review by Stephen Rapid.