Song, by Toad

Malcolm Holcombe is pretty much a legend. In the mid-nineties he emerged — already mature –from the mountains of western North Carolina to critical acclaim in country and folk music circles. He has produced a new record every 5 years or so since then, and he’s spent time on the road with some prime talent, including Wilco and Merle Haggard. By all accounts his live performances are truly intense, but thus far I’ve never had the pleasure. He looks and sounds like an Ent from Lord of the Rings, with a face like gnarled tree roots draped in moss and a voice like John Prine with throat cancer. He’s basically a sinister cross-breeding of Guy Clark and Tom Waits. Interested? Thought so.

To be honest, Holcombe’s past records have suffered a bit from excessively shiny Nashville production. Too straight-laced; too much technology. For the proper effect he really needs to be recorded drunk in a barn with a banjo and a big sleepy hound dog at his feet. Gratefully, the solution has been found. In 2007 Holcombe went home to Asheville, NC, and recorded a rugged 5-song EP on Echo Mountain Records called “Wager” with producer Ray Kennedy, who has had great success in the recent past producing records by Steve Earle and Ray Davies.

Now this is more like it. On “I Feel Like a Train” Holcombe sounds like, erm, a train, huffin’ and puffin’ through the Blue Ridge Mountains in a haze of coal-smoke. Or perhaps a dirty old man? Either way, I approve. Actually, this EP was released as a teaser for his new full-length, called “Gamblin’ House,” also released on Echo Mountain. The song “Evelyn,” posted below, appears on both the EP and the full-length, and it’s just a romper stomper.  Holcombe actually just wrapped up a brief European tour that took him to Ireland and the UK, and if anybody reading this had a chance to see him I’d love to get your impressions.

So this is my last post, and Matthew will be back tomorrow I guess. Thanks for listening. In the words of the immortal Casey Kasem, “keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.” How one is supposed to reach the stars without lifting one’s feet from the ground is something of a mystery, but Casey has always been an enigma, god bless ‘im.

Cheers.

Malcolm Holcombe – Evelyn
Malcolm Holcombe – I Feel Like a Train

Website | More mp3s | Buy Malcolm’s stuff direct from him