Malcolm Holcombe - 'Bits & Pieces' - review - Lonestar Time (Italy) - 26.6.23

http://www.lonestartime.com/2023/06/malcolm-holcombe-bits-pieces.html

Malcolm Holcombe - Bits & Pieces

Posted by Remo Ricaldone | Labels: Malcolm Holcombe , CD Review

Life has certainly not been easy for Malcolm Holcombe, one of the most particular singer-songwriters of the roots scene, capable of crossing folk, blues and country with a unique and personal style, sometimes tousled but always extraordinarily genuine and sincere. Health problems didn't stop him, perhaps slowed him down at some point, but they were the lever that confirmed his qualities as a fighter, despite everything and everyone. Malcolm Holcombe was lucky enough to meet a great musician and producer like Jared Tyler, a faithful pard who supported him in difficult moments such as the recent cancer diagnosis that could have put an end to the career of the North Carolina storyteller. Instead, the two got to work and the result was a highly inspired record, one of the highest points of a discography that consists of eighteen chapters. "Bits & Pieces" is made up of thirteen new original compositions, imbued with that intense and poetically incisive and profound style which is now Malcolm Holcombe's trademark, interpreted with almost unusual strength. Jared Tyler's instrumental backing playing just about anything with strings is of the finest quality, Malcolm Holcombe's pickin' is solid and rich, his guiding voice trailing a life of excesses, aches and pains and just because this unique and inimitable that sometimes refers to that of the great Dave Van Ronk, with the same sensitivity in handling the roots. "Bits & Pieces" presents us with an author in great shape, able to vary themes easily passing from folk song to country blues, revitalizing a formula that is not easy to reproduce with credibility, guessing melodies and themes underlined by the great talent of Jared Tyler in the arrangements. The 'pieces and pieces' of the title are an inspired patchwork where ours is expressed at all times with admirable effectiveness and often with moving transport, characterized by a skilful guitar work whose notes are never superfluous and least of all useless. In a similar context it may be unfair to quote a few songs, everyone has something to give in terms of emotions, from the bright "Fill Those Shoes" to the proud and incisive "Hard Luck City", passing through the authentic and pure poetry of moments like “I've Been There”, “The Wind Doesn't Know You”, “Happy Wonderland” and “Every Soul Is There”. "Bits & Pieces" will not struggle to enter sensitive hearts, in those looking for moments that remain fixed in time, the pinnacle of a career that we hope will continue with this effectiveness.

Remo Ricaldone

G Promo PR

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