http://www.keysandchords.com/album-review-blog/malcolm-holcombe-tricks-of-the-trade-limited-deluxe-version

MALCOLM HOLCOMBE TRICKS OF THE TRADE (LIMITED-DELUXE VERSION)

30/8/2021

With its raw baritone, troubadour Malcolm Holcombe pushes us to the facts. The elite's supremacy against the vast majority, the tricks of the fortune that are applied, with all the consequences that entails, are being exposed by Malcolm on the grid.

‘Money Train’ and ‘Misery Loves Company’ leave nothing to the imagination...it is about money in our society. The 2018 album ‘Come Hell or High Water’ has already been praised on this site, and its recent ‘Tricks’ (written in 2019 anyway, but only now available on CD in Europe) should not be underestimated. Malcolm is accompanied on Tricks Of The Trade by bassist/producer Dave Roe, his son Jerry on drums and "longtime partner in crime" Jared Tyler on dobro/mandolin/electric guitar. Already grumpy, he denounces injustice, poverty and abuse of power...without being instructive. Yet also a spark of positivity with "Into the sunlight we belong".

Malcolm Holcombe grew up in the Appalachians of North Carolina, not immediately the most luxurious region, and he drew the man both literally and figuratively. And see what beautiful comes out of it! Not only to be discovered by the folkies, also for fans of Tom Waits and even Captain Beefheart.