Gritty folk bluesman Malcolm Holcombe doesn’t just do things differently—he does them inside out and backwards. Which is, no doubt, one reason why he’s such a compelling singer-songwriter. Plenty tales of artistic triumph revolve around how some aspiring, guitar-toting soul gets to town and toughs it out for years before having their breakthrough. Holcombe’s done some of his best work since he moved back to North Carolina and got sober; that includes 2007’s Gamblin’ House and his new one, For the Mission Baby. He’ll twist the stories and sounds in his songs around, and sideswipe listeners in the process. The title cut of his latest is a case in point: he’s singing about a couple of kids who are too young, poor and restless to keep their baby, and it’s coming off like one of the Carter Family’s sunnier sides. And another thing about his singing: With his wolvish, gravelly delivery, he can make hunger sound like satisfaction—and vice versa.
Sun., Oct. 4, 8 p.m., 2009
Sun., Oct. 4, 8 p.m., 2009
Comments (0)