http://www.fabricationshq.com/2021-reviews.html

Malcolm Holcombe – Tricks of the Trade (Deluxe Edition)

In review of Come Hell or High Water, the previous studio album from North Carolina’s roots-folk troubadour Malcolm Holcombe, FabricationsHQ made mention that Holcombe’s honest and earthy music is "pulled from the bedrock of the Blue Ridge Southern Appalachians, woodlands and small town grounds" of the lands Holcombe calls home.

It’s also, clearly, where his voice was pulled from, as earthy as the soil that sits atop those grounds and dusty as the roads through them.

While such world-weary vocalisation can be an acquired taste it’s a voice that is as honest as the North Carolina day is long – more importantly, it’s inconceivable to think of Malcolm Holcombe’s rich tapestry of real life lyricism and folk-blues musicality delivered by any other voice.

Take the mid-tempo folk-blues of 'Money Train' for example, which opens Tricks of the Trade, Malcolm Holcombe’s sixth studio album in the last seven years.

The plight of the poor and finger-pointing at the affluent are very much part of Holcombe’s folk-blues fabric and 'Money Train' bitingly aims at the latter through its half sung, half narrated lyric ("I don’t care 'bout the starvin' naked world, somebody else'll fix it; I'm busy in a whirl, on the money train!").

There are also some lovely electric blues licks at six-string play on 'Money Train' (and indeed throughout the album) courtesy of Jared Tyler, who has worked on and off with Holcombe for more than twenty years.
Bass is provided by long-time musical accomplice Dave Roe (the album was recorded at Roe’s Seven Deadly Sins Studios in Nashville) while drum duties are shared by Jerry Roe and Miles McPherson.

Contrast is then provided via the country & western twangs and chorus harmonies of 'Misery Loves Company' (now there’s a country-blues title) and 'Into the Sunlight,' an up-tempo acoustic and electric picking number that carries more than a hint of lyrical ambiguity (another Holcombe trait), but seems to point to the fact that "into the sunlight" we all, indeed, "belong."

There’s further lyrical ambiguity within the lyrics of love song 'Lenora Cynthia,' which is as sweet as it is stark (built upon no more than Malcolm Holcombe’s vocal, acoustic guitar and cello of guest player Ron de la Vega).

But it’s the songs for the forlorn or overlooked that take centre stage more times than not, yet always with a resonance or razor sharp lyric that makes them much more than a simple plea for the poor.

'Damn Rainy Day' for example is an Appalachian folk-blues plea for those on the poverty line ("heat bill's paid and the TV works good enough, but my back still hurts") while the simple rhythm and pseudo gospel choruses (featuring singers Mary Gauthier and Jaimee Harris) of 'Higher Ground' belie the true lyrical nature of the "freedom to choose, freedom to lose" number ("Hollywood my ass, free carnival glass; another sucker for the man, another sucker for the rats").

Closing number 'Shaky Ground' is the album’s Springsteen in folk mode moment. A song that lyrically touches on national crises (recently past and still present), 'Shaky Ground' also doubles as the perfect book-end to 'Money Train' ("it must be nice not to face your troubles ev'ry day, with a cocktail in your face to wash away the pain").

For those in early, there’s also 'Windows of Amsterdam,' a red light meets full-bodied (pun intended) folk-rock number exclusive to the first CD run of the album. 
 
Tricks of the Trade perhaps, but Malcolm Holcombe’s seventeenth studio album also carries some of the best tracks of his trade.

Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ

https://atthebarrier.com/2021/08/16/malcolm-holcombe-tricks-of-the-trade-album-review/

Malcolm Holcombe – Tricks Of The Trade: Album Review

BY HOWARD KING ON 16TH AUGUST 2021 • ( LEAVE A COMMENT )

Malcolm Holcombe takes us on a journey through blues, country, rock and bluegrass on Tricks Of The Trade.

Release date: 20th August 2021

Label: Need To Know Music

Format: Vinyl / CD / Digital

It was once said of Bob Dylan that he had a voice like sand and glue. With Malcolm you can add a bucket of gravel  but his voice works perfectly with this collection of  songs. A smoother voice wouldn’t express the passion and gritty honesty of his performance.

What is compelling is that he drags you into his world of  blues and country music  using his ‘lived in’ vocals and illustrative lyrics to explore all those areas that these music styles take you. However uncomfortable they can be there is warmth and fun.

Although his sound may be unique there is a rich vein of Nashville running through all these songs. I would love to stumble into a bar or club there and see Malcolm set up in a smoky corner or stage with intimately placed tables in a darkened atmospheric room. This is what he conjures up to me on Tricks Of The Trade. Fortunately I can create my own encore by repeated plays.

Accompanied by Jared Tyler on dobro, mandolin, guitar and vocals,  Dave Roe on bass  , Joe Roe on drums a cosy rhythmic groove is added to  these tunes. Malcolm blends country, blues, rock, bluegrass and poetical lyrics with aplomb. These are not songs merely to tap your foot to or sing catchy choruses along with, you need to delve into them and search for some meaning especially with words like

“There’s a rumble in the paper walls and the early morning questions fall from frigid winter lips.”

His  themes cover the plight of the downtrodden ordinary man as well as encapsulates the common concerns over issues effecting everyone at a national level,  vividly exposing that times can  be tough but humorous too. Words from the track Shaky Ground possibly summing up the main train of thought running through the album as we all battle through adversity.

Let the rain do the job.

Let the rain fall on down and wash away the walls.

Standin’ tall on shaky ground.

https://americanahighways.org/2021/08/16/review-malcolm-holcombe/

REVIEW: Malcolm Holcombe “Tricks Of The Trade”

Reviews

August 16, 2021Melissa Clarke0

Malcolm Holcombe – Tricks of the Trade

Found on a menu that would also include dishes by Tom Waits-Chuck E. Weiss is North Carolina’s, Malcolm Holcombe. Despite comparisons, he’s wholly an original. His pen stings of blues, stab at jazz, with avant-garde salt, hipster lyrics dipped into Lord Buckley’s pot, with a little twist of Captain Beefheart. Songs like “Money Train,” with its glint in the damp chill of the sun as its light, sparkles like tossed away stars out in a mud puddle — after a summer downpour. Yeah, baby.

Holcombe never wanders. Each tune focuses on a particular subject as he adds his instrumentation & wily voice of wisdom with a slug of whiskey & a whiskered smile.

“Misery Loves Company,” adds persistent pedal steel that colors melancholic. With Captain Beefheart & Chuck E. Weiss now passed & Tom Waits on a long sabbatical it’s a pleasure to hear someone with serious songs that don’t appear dipped in the red candy-apple coating.

Tricks of the Trade (Drops Aug 20/Gokuhi Entertainment/Singular/Handmade Music). 13-well-nourished tracks with tight acoustic guitar picking, electric guitar whining that all punctuate songs like “Crazy Man Blues.” Infused with sassy intonation.

It’s like your grandfather’s on the porch with a jug of hooch in his boxer shorts singing while playing an old National Guitar with a switchblade. A blood hound’s asleep under his chair. All your schoolfriends tongues hang out at the picket fence, as they spill their Pepsis into the gardenias.

And you have the coolest grandpa in town.

Holcombe’s had many LPs since the 90s. What a raspy-voiced singer has when it’s in the throat of a Malcolm Holcombe is individuality, class & most importantly charm. Female vocalists like Lucinda Williams, Bonnie Tyler & Kim Carnes would know what I mean. They exude a necessary authenticity in every word spilled from their soul. There’s no showboating, no pristine clarity, or exceptional skill except for an ability to communicate to people familiar with life’s bare necessities & hardships.

“Your Kin,” is such a song – glorious in its seriousness. “Damn Rainy Day,” sounds like songs written by either the late Roger Miller (sample his “River In the Rain”) or Chip Taylor.

Yet this wild strain of poignancy is provided throughout by Mr. Holcombe. The opposite side of the coin had John Prine’s face on it. It’s a good place to be.

Some (“Good Intentions”) harken back to a dark carnival spirit in the tradition of Kurt Weill-Bertolt Brecht. However, Malcolm’s songs aren’t all darkness. Many are topical, contemporary & well-written (“Shakey Ground”).

These originals were recorded in Nashville with David Roe, Jared Tyler, Jerry Roe, Mary Gauthier, Jaimee Harris, Miles McPherson & Ron De La Vega. Produced by Brian Brinkerhoff, David Roe with Jared Tyler.

Malcolm Holcombe - 'Tricks of the Trade' - review (9/10) - Americana-UK - 12.8.21

Malcolm Holcombe “Tricks of the Trade”

NEED TO KNOW MUSIC, 2021

August 12, 2021

Peter Churchill Album Reviews, Reviews 0

A trademark growl, razor-sharp lyrics and high-class musicianship combine to great effect.

Malcolm Holcombe is nothing if not prolific. Sixteen albums since the mid-90s and six in the last six years suggests Holcombe is a man with lots to write about and a man in a hurry to share it. Shrugging off serious health issues and the not-insignificant pain in the backside for all working musicians of a piffling little pandemic, Holcombe’s latest offering finds the gruff-voiced troubadour in fine musical fettle.

Holcombe can address that universal staple of human relations and love as well as any but on ‘Misery Loves Company’ he does it with a dark humour befitting his world-weary voice. Addressing as it does that favourite country theme of drinking away the misery of a love lost, it is appropriate that this is delivered with an old-fashioned country twang.

But Holcombe is not easy to pigeonhole. The album meanders its way through a myriad of musical styles as his writing takes on the plight of the poor, the oppressed, the forgotten. Holcombe may have mountain and hill country roots at his heart but these songs have wider influences with blues, gospel, folk and bluegrass all at play on the record.

‘Your Kin’ takes on the cold-hearted policy of separating children from their families as they cross the Mexican border. ‘Higher Ground’ takes us back to one of the worst hurricanes ever to hit the USA in 1928. 2500 killed in the Florida area, tragic in itself, but that is not the story that Holcombe wants to tell. “White people got caskets, black people mass graves, migrant farmers, burned bodies no names.”

‘On Tennessee Land’ creates stark images of the rural poor ‘Ev’ry dollar ev’ry dime aint enough when ya cry for the hungry bellies just waitin’ in line / aint nothin’ good to say ‘bout a politician’s plan, when a family goes hungry on Tennessee land.’

Lyrically, Holcombe is razor-sharp and unafraid to address the inequalities in American society and the hypocrisy at play in the halls of power. The opening track ‘Money Train’ pulls no punches in this regard ‘I don’t care ‘bout the starvin’ naked world, somebody else’ll fix it, I’m busy on a whirl on the money train’.

With a great studio band behind him and the support of high-class guest vocalists such as Mary Gauthier, Holcombe wraps these impeccable lyrics in a musical package of the highest order. It is an album to savour and, as is often the wont of the Americana singer-songwriter, an important and invaluable insight into the underbelly of the USA.

https://www.celticmusicradio.net/malcolm-holcombe-tricks-of-the-trade/

ALBUM REVIEWS

MALCOLM HOLCOMBE – TRICKS OF THE TRADE

Written By Celtic Music Radio On August 9, 2021

The joys delivered by Malcolm Holcombe’s latest release, Tricks of the Trade, cannot be over-praised – quite simply it is glorious, rugged, ragged, drawling, dusty and moving, the shiniest gem of a record.

Listening to the man from North Carolina serve up alluring gritty and earthy songs is one of life’s great musical delights. His tales are dragged up by their roots from who knows where, unfold determinedly, all stimulated by his familiar jagged vocals where final letters in words at the end of lines come out in an exaggerated form.

Subtly stirring guitar work and deft arrangements create a sound that hovers over the listener while highlighting the talents of his long- time compadres, Jared Tyler and Dave Roe, whose Seven Deadly Sins Studios in Nashville was where the record was made. Mary Gauthier and Jaimee Harris add vocals on quite a few tracks, upping the quality a notch or two,too.

Money Train, sounding like a finger-flexing, warm-up session, gets this follow-up to 2018’s Hell Or High Water release under way with the jaunty country bump of Misery Loves Company hard on its heels and the tight bite of Into The Sunshine, completing the opening trio. But you don’t get to draw breath on the brilliance.

The musical rumbling helps the dirt-tinged singing as he gets his blood up for Your Kin with unequivocal views on US Border separations of desperate families: ‘Sweet dreams they don’t mean a thing / A dictator for a president / and the cops take away your children / the cops take away your kin.’ The polemic is as sharp as barbed wire fencing.

On Tennessee Land troubled lives are addressed again and the finger is pointed without any sugar-coating to those Holcombe considers guilty: “Ain’t nothing good to say / about a politician’s plan / when a family goes hungry / on Tennessee land.”

The title track is overrun delightfully with muscled and nimble playing and Holcombe directs it all with a glint and sublime, colourful storytelling: “The devils in a top hat / moustache coat and tails / the elephants and donkeys / strutting tricks of the trade.”

Shaky Ground rounds things off in superb style; a hill country melody with slivers of guitar and chunky drums – it should be made compulsory for radio station playlists.

Holcombe has been quoted as follows: “Songs mean different things to each person. The songs are written and come to life over time. A different one for each listener. People bring songs to life.”

But few can write or perform them so heartily or compellingly as him.
MIKE RITCHIE

https://www.malcolmholcombe.com/

https://rockingmagpie.wordpress.com/2021/08/09/malcolm-holcombe-tricks-of-the-trade/

Malcolm Holcombe TRICKS OF THE TRADE

by rockingmagpie

Malcolm Holcombe
Tricks of The Trade
Need To Know Music

Warm, World Weary, Thoughtful and ..... as Dangerously Honest as Ever.

Q) When is a new release, not a new release?
A) If it's been released before.

But, if; as in this case something was released as a Limited Edition LP; just before the artist took seriously ill, therefore delaying the CD/Downloads coming out; and an unrelated pandemic stopped any promotion and an accompanying tour can take place; would that mean we can count TRICKS OF THE TRADE as a new release?
YES is my answer.
Mercifully Malcolm has come through his operation uncommonly well and I can now breathe a sigh of relief and treat this as 'just another' of his releases.
Money Train which opens the album finds our hero in his trademarked 'piss n vinegar' angry at the moneymen who rule the world mode; and boy can he write and perform something like this without sounding 'worthy' or 'earnest' ..... he just 'speaks for the common man and woman.'
God Bless Him.
I forget how many albums Malcolm Holcombe has previously released; but in recent years he's had something of an epiphany; writing better than ever; and this album has some belters on it.
Crazy Man Blues and the title track Tricks of the Trade are as good and eminently as 'listenable' as anything I've heard from the singer in the last 15+ years; and when you finally get to hear Your Kin and Good Intentions you will think you are listening to someone who is evoking the ghost of Townes Van Zandt; and to some great extent he is.
Malcolm has been around long enough not to really need comparisons; but I can't hear him now without thinking he's carrying that very torch better and longer than anyone else.
Traditionally a Folk Singer at heart; the arrangements are very sympathetic to Malcolm's voice of course; but on many songs he transcends Americana and goes seamlessly into Alt. Country with the greatest of ease; especially noticeable on Damn Rainy Day and the magnificent On Tennessee Land; which is the type of song Johnny Cash would have given his eye-teeth for during the American Album series.
The 'Bonus Track' here Windows of Amsterdam is one of 'those songs' along with Lenora Cynthia that I can only imagine Malcolm Holcombe writing and singing.
For a million reasons this is a very special album indeed; and there are two very special songs here too; and I can't seperate them so my selection of Favourite Song is a tie between the punchy Higher Ground, which features the joint talents of Mary Gauthier and Jaimee Harris on the exceptional ‘Higher Ground’, bringing home its reckoning on the final chorus:
"I got freedom to choose
I got freedom to lose
I got freedom to choose
higher ground."
T'other caught me unawares the first time I played the album; as Misery Loves Company was the perfect soundtrack to how I was feeling that day; but as the days have gone by it's become a beautiful heartbreaker of a good old fashioned Country drinkin' song worthy of Hank or more recently Kris Kristofferson .....
"I’ve tasted and I’ve wasted
the good life that I had
my poor selfish drinking
made a rich ol man go mad…I passed out and I cried out
my God what have I done
she’s gone… I oughtta be on tv
with a guitar strummin’ smile
cause misery loves company when the neon’s burnin’ bright.
It's far from a criticism; but the arrangement and backing band; as usual are quite exceptional here and throughout the album too; but I've only ever seen Malcolm perform solo; and these songs ain't gonna sound anything like this when he goes off on one, attacking his acoustic guitar as if it has personally offended him and bringing it on home unlike just about anyone else I can think of these days .
That said; as an album that you will listen to in the comfort of your home .... and you will; the Production team of Brian Brinkerhoff, Dave Roe and Jared Tyler have managed to make Malcolm's wheezy growl sound the way the Grand Old Man of Americana should; warm, world weary, thoughtful and above all else ....... dangerously honest.

Released August 20th 2021
https://www.malcolmholcombe.com/

http://musicriot.co.uk/album/tricks-of-the-trade-malcolm-holcombe/

Malcolm Holcombe is one of those songwriters who is quite rightly revered by music fans and fellow-songwriters alike. He’s been releasing solo material for twenty-seven years now, and the quality of his work never dips; he just goes on writing, playing, beautifully crafted songs in his own country/blues/rock style, singing them in his own distinctive cracked drawl. It’s powerful stuff, even before you get to the lyrical themes of the twelve songs on this album (with a bonus thirteenth on the CD version).

Malcolm has been prolific recently with six albums in the last six years despite serious health problems and that small matter of a pandemic. “Tricks of the Trade” marks a progression from his recent work. The addition of electric guitar to Jared Tyler’s string armoury adds a harder cutting edge to the arrangements while Malcolm’s lyric have more of a political edge this time around, which shouldn’t surprise anyone after the events of the last eighteen months.

Musically the stylings move across the roots spectrum from the lap steel-led old country of “Misery Loves Company” through the uptempo acoustic “Crazy Man Blues” to the country rock of “Damn Rainy Day” (with a similar theme to Paolo Nutini’s “Pencil Full of Lead”). Jared Tyler’s electric adds some punch to the album’s closer “Shaky Ground”, while a cello line adds pathos to the love ballad “Lenora Cynthia” and “Higher Ground” has a pumping bassline that evokes the Talking Heads classic, “Psycho Killer”. It’s a strikingly broad musical palette.

The lyrical edge of the album comes, typically for Malcolm Holcombe, with the allusive and indirect political references, leaving the listener to wonder what they actually heard. Just two words in “Higher Ground”, ‘slumlord whitehouse’ convey the Trump genealogy. Donald Trump’s father Fred Trump built up the property empire that the former President inherited and was attacked in song by Woody Guthrie over racial discrimination. That’s a lot of meaning packed in to two words. And while we’re talking about presidents, “On Tennessee Land” highlights the short-sightedness of voters in the Southern states, recalling Lyndon B Johnson’s comment: ‘If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket.’ The title song can be interpreted as a commentary on political trickery or, like the opener “Money Train”, the machinations of the music business; there are always layers within layers in Malcolm Holcombe’s songs.

“Tricks of the Trade” is the real thing. Malcolm Holcombe has taken his very personal songwriting style in a more political direction while still retaining the subtlety of lyrical expression that typifies his work. Take the time to peel way the layers and you’ll find a very satisfying album that will stay with you.

“Tricks of the Trade” is released in the UK on Friday August 20th.

https://www.ox-fanzine.de/ox-157-ist-raus

https://www.altcountry.nl/blog/2021/08/malcolm-holcombe-8/

HOME » REVIEWS » Malcolm Holcombe

03 08
21

Malcolm Holcombe

Filed in: REVIEWS — John Gjaltema @ 23:36

The sketches on the cover are again by Malcolm Holcombe himself. And beyond that, Tricks Of The Trade (Singular Recordings/Proper) feels familiar. That is, misery looms up behind just about every line of text. Misery Loves Company and Holcombe welcomes every tormented soul as a kindred spirit. Nice country song by the way. Lying types with pockets full of money populate the numbers. That results in a haunted song like Crazy Man Blues . The singer-songwriter wrote them in 2019. The president on Your Kin is a dictator. 'White people gotcaskets / Black people mass graves / Migrant farmers / Burned bodies no names', it sounds on Higher Ground . Mary Gauthier and Jaimee Harris form the choir. The songs are not cheerful. But fortunately there are people who have an eye for the misery. And make songs in which it rains a lot. Or just way too hot. Holcombe gives the losers a voice. And he makes the winners who jump on the money train a feeling of guilt, if they understand something of his lyrics. Jared Tyler on dobro, mandolin and electric guitar, Dave Roe on bass and his son Jerry Roe on drums.

https://www.fatea-records.co.uk/magazine/reviews/MalcolmHolcombe4/

Artist:Malcolm Holcombe
Album:Tricks Of The Trade (Deluxe Edition)
Label:Need To know Music
Tracks:13
Website:https://www.malcolmholcombe.com

If I was a whoopin' and a hollerin' type of chap then the release of a Malcolm Holcombe album would trigger such rowdy reactions.

But as I'm not inclined to express my deep pleasure in such a raucous manner, I will merely observe that the joys delivered by Tricks of the Trade cannot be over-praised - quite simply it is glorious, rugged, ragged, drawling, dusty and moving, the shiniest gem of a record.

Listening to the man from North Carolina serve up alluring gritty and earthy songs is one of life's great musical delights. His tales are dragged up by their roots from who knows where, unfold determinedly, all stimulated by his familiar jagged vocals where final letters in words at the end of lines come out in an exaggerated form.

Subtly stirring guitar work and deft arrangements create a sound that hovers over the listener while highlighting the talents of his long- time compadres, Jared Tyler and Dave Roe, whose Seven Deadly Sins Studios in Nashville was where the record was made. Mary Gauthier and Jaimee Harris add vocals on quite a few tracks, upping the quality a notch or two,too.

Money Train, sounding like a finger-flexing, warm-up session, gets this follow-up to 2018's Hell Or High Water release under way with the jaunty country bump of Misery Loves Company hard on its heels and the tight bite of Into The Sunshine, completing the opening trio. But you don't get to draw breath on the brilliance.

The musical rumbling helps the dirt-tinged singing as he gets his blood up for Your Kin with unequivocal views on US Border separations of desperate families: 'Sweet dreams they don't mean a thing / A dictator for a president / and the cops take away your children / the cops take away your kin.' The polemic is as sharp as barbed wire fencing.

On Tennessee Land troubled lives are addressed again and the finger is pointed without any sugar-coating to those Holcombe considers guilty: "Ain't nothing good to say / about a politician's plan / when a family goes hungry / on Tennessee land."

The title track is overrun delightfully with muscled and nimble playing and Holcombe directs it all with a glint and sublime, colourful storytelling: "The devils in a top hat / moustache coat and tails / the elephants and donkeys / strutting tricks of the trade."

Shaky Ground rounds things off in superb style; a hill country melody with slivers of guitar and chunky drums - it should be made compulsory for radio station playlists.

Holcombe has been quoted as follows: "Songs mean different things to each person. The songs are written and come to life over time. A different one for each listener. People bring songs to life."

But few can write or perform them so heartily or compellingly as him.

Mike Ritchie
www.celticmusicradio.net

https://listeningthroughthelens.com/2021/08/01/albums-of-the-month-aug-2021/

Malcolm Holcombe

Tricks Of The Trade

Need To Know

20 August 2021

Malcolm Holcombe‘s visage might be described as a little gruff, weather-worn and honest, but somehow compelling. So too are his musical abilities and it’s easy to convince ourselves that we should listen to the many colourful stories contained within Tricks Of The Trade.

Just days before the world went COVID-haywire, Holcombe spent a week recording what would be his next album. Tracked at Seven Deadly Sins studio just outside Nashville, the album is replete with fascinating narratives and sharp phrasing. The first single is “Money Train”, the video of which was made by gifted songwriter Emma Swift, follows and is an ideal example of what to expect here.

Produced by the team of Brian Brinkerhoff, Dave Roe and Jared Tyler, Tricks of the Trade contains a wonderful studio band that includes Roe on bass and longtime musical cohort, Tyler on electric guitar, dobro and background vocals, with guest vocalists Mary Gauthier and Jaimee Harris.

Be prepared for many insights on this insightful and gritty collection.

https://spirit.rocks/2021/07/30/roots-in-august-3/

ROOTS IN AUGUST

by David Pearson

Malcolm Holcombe – Tricks of the Trade

Malcolm Holcombe has put out 16 or more records since the mid-90’s, and since 2015 he’s put out six full length albums and a separate series of singles. Accompanied by mainstays Dave Roe (since 2007) and Jared Tyler (back to 1999) they are also producer and co-producer of the album along with Brian Brinkerhoff. To keep it in the family, Dave Roe’s son, Jerry Roe drums for most songs,  Miles McPherson the rest. That band is enhanced by Ron de la Vega (cello on ‘Lenora Cynthia’), Mary Gauthier and Jaimee Harris providing vocals.

He’s a hard working live and studio performer, coming through many musical traditions: folk, country, rock, bluegrass, blues, gospel, in a unique mix, flavoured by Malcolm’s western NC mountain and hill country roots. What makes this chap unique is how he’s got all of that in his blood, and yet adds personal qualities of perspective and insight within his words and music. There’s a passion mixed into his unique sound. Personal.

http://www.liverpoolsoundandvision.co.uk/

Malcolm Holcombe, Tricks Of The Trade. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Don’t ask someone to teach you the tricks of the trade, if you are not going to learn the hard lessons that trade is willing to demand of you.

However, life itself is more than willing to be a demanding teacher, you may have been round the block more than a few hundred times, hopefully scratched more than the surface of your chosen pastime, genre or love, and yet, indisputably, unarguably, the Tricks of the Trade evade us, for we are always presented with a chance to learn a new part to the machine we have tied ourselves to, or maybe the moment to realise that we are free to consciously admit that the surprise of an unexpected treasure that has been around for so long and yet we have only just taken the ribbons of pleasure off.

Look at yourself in the mirror and admonish yourself for not knowing Malcolm Holcombe; then immediately forgive, then praise the fact that you have a huge swathe of music to investigate, starting with the latest of his releases, Tricks of the Trade. 

A singer/songwriter that can engage in the local issues as well as the national problems is worth their weight in gold, to tackle on a global scale all that binds us, the scourge of Government inflicted despair, hunger, poverty, the local issues of toxic officials ruining the working class lives with even greater demands of subservience; these are the artists in which to hold close, for they are they ones that inspire the confidence to fight back, these are the musicians that know how to strike at the heart of the machine.

Through tracks such as Misery Loves Company, Crazy Man Blues, the excellent Your Kin and Damn Rainy Day, Good Intentions, On Tennessee Land, the two-bonus additions of Windows of Amsterdam, Shaky Ground, and the album title track of Tricks of the Trade, Malcolm Holcombe moves with passion and silent humble demeanour into a place of vocational belief, an occupation to which the music and the words take over and become the weapons in which he fashions strength from. Like Woody Guthrie he speaks a truth with honour in his voice, the folk singer earns the respect due, the lyric is endowed with trust.

A collection of songs that come from the heart, there is no fluff, no double talking; all that Malcolm Holcombe has in his courage and spirit is on the album, all that the artist encompasses is there for all to take inspiration from.

Malcolm Holcombe releases Tricks of the Trade on August 20th via Need To Know Music.

Ian D. Hall

http://www.lonestartime.com/2021/07/malcolm-holcombe-tricks-of-trade.html

Malcolm Holcombe - Tricks Of The Trade

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

With his now unmistakable rumpled, hoarse and tremendously sincere voice, Malcolm Holcombe is a character like not many in Nashville. Gifted with an oblique and personal view of the deepest roots of American music, Malcolm Holcombe has always managed to combine country music, folk tradition and bluesy impressionism into a beautifully packaged ensemble by some of the most valid names on the other side of Music City, that on the fringes of the business he looks at with disenchantment and humor. Dave Roe and Jared Tyler with Brian Brinkerhoff have long been the ones who have sewn the best suit for Mr. Holcombe, the tastefully electro-acoustic one that fits perfectly with the suggestive and disillusioned stories that represent his trademark. "Tricks Of The Trade" follows in the best way the previous albums, always adding that little bit extra that shows great inspiration and stainless love for the aforementioned sounds, delivered to listeners with extraordinary vitality and freshness. The vicissitudes of a life certainly not without difficulties to put it mildly have not slowed the inspirational and poetic flow of Malcolm Holcombe who, especially in recent years, has regularly delivered records worthy of the best 'American music', crowded with losers and forgotten with their poignant stories full of humanity and brotherhood. The aforementioned Jared Tyler and Dave Roe above all are those who inlay with their talent arrangements of great beauty, Mary Gauthier and Jaimee Harris are the female voices that add sweetness and intensity, Ron De La Vega, bassist with an impeccable career fixes rhythms and sensations with solidity. And also this time the 'plate' is rich and vigorous, cohesive and enthralling, from the first to the last episode, from "Money Train", a masterpiece of expressive force to "Shaky Ground" that closes with country sweetness, with songs that we will long remember as "Crazy Man Blues", "Good Intentions", "On Tennessee Land", "Into The Sunlight", "Lenora Cynthia". A music with a strong specific weight that always acquires new colors with each listening. Absolutely and inevitably recommended. "On Tennessee Land", "Into The Sunlight", "Lenora Cynthia". A music with a strong specific weight that always acquires new colors with each listening. Absolutely and inevitably recommended. "On Tennessee Land", "Into The Sunlight", "Lenora Cynthia". A music with a strong specific weight that always acquires new colors with each listening. Absolutely and inevitably recommended.

Remo Ricaldone

MALCOLM HOLCOMBE - TRICKS OF THE TRADE - Need To Know Music

Almost three years after his “Come Hell Or High Water”, Malcolm Holcombe returns with his fifteenth album to date. Landed in Nashville in 1990 from his North Carolina, he practiced diving in the kitchen there before being signed in 1996 by Geffen Records ... Late aware of the man's limited commercial potential, the label however gave up editing the subsequent recording (which later lives on Hip-O Records). The guy is characterized by three specific qualities: his impressive picking game, his sharp talent as a songwriter, and his recurring themes. Marginality, social maladjustment, depression, wandering, tribulations and the quest for a hypothetical respite (as far as salvation is concerned, Malcolm hardly seems to have any illusions anymore)… All subjects exhausted at leisure by great predecessors such as Townes Van Zandt, John Prine and Fred Neil, but who express themselves at Holcombe in a special light. Because if we had to summarize the latter under a single name, it would undoubtedly be that of storyteller. To capture these thirteen new originals, he took up residence at the Seven Deadly Sins Studios of his bassist friend Dave Roe, on the outskirts of Nashville, surrounded by his faithful accomplice Jared Tyler (dobro, slide, mandolin), as well as his own son Dave, Jerry, on drums on a few tracks (Miles McPherson doing the rest). The first notable change compared to his predecessor, Malcolm takes a more electro-acoustic approach this time, and Jared sometimes switches to the Telecaster. Obvious evolution from the opening “Money Train”, that Malcolm belches with his rocky tone evoking a lifted Tom Waits with his left foot (and finding its echo in the no less sarcastic “Crazy Man Blues”). The country-rock of “Misery Loves Company” recalls the pasty flow of the late Calvin Russell, pedal-steel in support, while there is one of those endless stories of broken heart on the counter (without one can really determine which of these elements is at the origin of the other). “Into The Sunlight” could have been featured on Dylan's “Nashville Skyline”, if only his lyrics could have been a bit more airtight. Protest-song if there is one, “Your Kin” unambiguously designates those responsible for the misery and oppression of the underprivileged in the Land Of The Free. Feeling of despair and desolation which then internalize “Damn Rainy Day”, “Higher Ground”, “Good Intentions” and the vehement “On Tennessee Land”, in a semi-acoustic mode that JJ Cale would not have denied. A certain Ron de la Vega officiates on the cello on the tender (and drunken?) “Lenora Cynthia”, while the titular track reminds us of which worthy Mississippi emulator John Hurt remains Malcolm. All equally remarkable, the lyrics of these new classics appear in the libretto, and the “Deluxe” version of this album offers as a bonus track a raging (and explicit) “Windows of Amsterdam”, dealing with the carnal trade that is practiced in the great day in the red light area of ​​this Batavian city. So do yourself a favor: unlike many current pseudo-singers-songwriters, Malcolm Holcombe can be as unstoppable as a heart attack.

Patrick Dallongeville
Paris-Move ,  Blues Magazine , Illico & BluesBoarder

PARIS-MOVE, July 23rd 2021

https://www.lonesomehighway.com/music-reviews

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.

Malcolm Holcombe, "people bring songs to life" on July 13, 2021

https://www.ruta66.es/2021/07/encuentros/malcolm-holcombe-las-personas-dan-vida-a-las-canciones/

When the first notes of "Money Train" start and the voice of Malcolm Holcombe, more punished than ever enters the scene, you have the feeling that you are at home. That there is no one better than this little songwriter from Weaverville to tell you the stories of everyday life, the everyday life that his voice and acoustic guitar turn into art.The song opens their new album Tracks of The Trade , which will officially hit stores on August 20. We want to prepare you for it with a talk with a Holcombe that begins with an emotional message for a server, “Dear Eduardo, I am glad to hear from you. I think of Javi Ezquerro, Antonio and the general public of Rocksound often. It is a pity that it no longer exists ”. This is Malcolm Holcombe and this is how we love him.

 On the album your voice sounds more raw than ever, although I think that this time, even more, the work of guitars reinforces your songs.

Undoubtedly. I love to play acoustic guitar. Also, this is how I distract attention from my weak chatter (laughs).

 This album came out on vinyl in 2020 but with a very limited edition. Now it comes out on CD, right?

Well, that was a test. Now the album comes out in the right way, and how a disk should be released. With its distribution and all that stuff.

 There is a normal edition and a Deluxe edition, how are they different?

There really is the vinyl edition limited to 500 copies, and then the CD edition with a bonus track. That is why we have called it Deluxe, although it would be the other way around (laughs).

As always, Jared Tyler is with you.

I've known him for 25 years. He always adds a very fresh soul rhythm both to what we do in the studio and to my performance.

But on the album Brian Brinkerhoff and Dave Rose appear as producers, and as co-producer Tyler, how is that?

Actually the production work is Brian's, but Dave and Jared also collaborated on ideas, arrangements. They are experienced in giving each song a good focus.

 I think some are especially hard songs. Are they the result of the current moment?

Songs mean different things to each person. The songs are written and come to life over time. A different one for each listener. People bring songs to life.

 What motivates you to stay on the road?

That a man has to work! (laughs)

I can't help but ask you for the title of the album and a song, Tricks of the Trade. You are a worker of this ...

Well, it is an expression that encompasses many things and, as you say, one of the songs on the album, so why not?

Malcolm Holcombe - 'Tricks of the Trade' - review - Lonesome Highway (Ireland) - 6.7.21

https://www.facebook.com/LonesomeHighwaycom-115009348529891/

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 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 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 lose”, 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 add his vision to this uncertain world.

Review by Stephen Rapid.

Malcolm Holcombe - 'Tricks of the Trade' - review - Music That Needs Attention (Netherlands) - June 2021

Music that needs attention

Malcolm Holcombe : Tricks of the Trade (Deluxe Edition)

I was really disappointed when Tricks of the Trade only appeared on vinyl last November . Especially because predecessor Come Hell or High Water was another very strong album. An album on which he sang a large number of duets with Iris DeMent. Fortunately, my impatient wait for a CD version was rewarded with this luxurious version. Only this CD version will be released with the bonus track Windows of Amsterdam . This time, legend Mary Gauthier and his life partner Jaimee Harris provide background vocals. The still quite young Harris made his debut three years ago with Red Rescue, one of my favorite albums of that year. A Malcolm album isn't really complete without veterans Dave Roe (bass) and Jared Tyler (guitar). Dave brought his son Jerry, who plays drums on most of the songs. Earlier this year, Jared and his new band Saugeye released their fantastic album of the same name, Saugeye . Ron de la Vega's beautiful cello can be heard in Lenora Cynthia . The other instruments are played by Miles McPherson. The great opener Money Trainimmediately sets the tone. It contains everything a Holcombe number needs. The characteristic, excellent guitar playing of Jared, excellent bass playing of Dave, soulful vocals and of course the passionate vocals of Malcolm. Also lyrically Malcolm is still driven and inspired. Perhaps the album's most socially engaged track is Your Kin , an indictment of Trump's then-disastrous refugee policy. Rules like : “not a chance in a man made hell, for a mother at the border wails, where's the heart in a white man's skin” speak for themselves. Fortunately, fragile health doesn't stop Malcolm from continuously releasing beautiful, driven albums like Tricks of the Trade . And also happy that passionate people like Joanna Serraris, Dutch lovers of his music gives them the opportunity to enjoy his live performances. The album was also superbly produced by Jared, Dave and Brian Brinkerhoff. Over the past decades, Malcolm has developed a completely authentic and unique sound, which I will now call Holcombicana. Malcolm delivers another strong album with Tricks of the Trade . Hopefully we'll see him back on stage here soon!  

Theo Volk

Release date : August 20, 2021 Need to Know

Website : https://www.malcolmholcombe.com