Malcolm Holcombe

Growl (graul), sb

1. An act of growling; a low angry guttural sound uttered by an animal. [see also MALCOLM HOLCOMBE ][*]

There just isn’t any other way to say it . . . Malcolm Holcombe growls. 

His voice is the dark energy of an oncoming thunderstorm, his words lurk just on the edge of the woods outside the campfire’s flame, and on his latest album, the self-released twelve song cycle entitled "Not Forgotten," Malcolm Holcombe sounds like a caged animal unleashed. I’m gonna say it now . . . and let the debate begin . . . " Not Forgotten" is Malcolm Holcombe at his very best, which, considering his back catalogue, is sayin’ a whole helluva lot. In spite of its title, this is a work to be remembered, to be listened to time and time again . . . so let’s stagger on down the dusty streets of another "One Hoarse Town": this week we share the saddle with Malcolm Holcombe.

The first time I heard Malcolm Holcombe was a number of years ago while spending some time down in Asheville, North Carolina (which coincidentally is also Holcombe’s home base). I was listening to WNCW, one of the region’s finest Americana stations, and on comes this voice that just blows my doors off. It’s one of those moments where you sit in the car and wait some ten minutes just so you can hear the deejay come on and tell you what you just heard. As a matter of fact, I would drive to a local music store that very day and buy the only album by Malcolm on the store’s shelves ... a stunning record entitled "A Hundred Lies" (Hip-O/Universal). As it turns out, I wasn’t the first and definitely not the last music fan to sing its praises. Rolling Stone magazine’s David Fricke gave the album four stars and both Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams were instrumental in bringing attention to this new, original voice and in getting the album to major label release. A quick disclaimer: calling Malcolm’s voice new is missing the point; it’s actually quite old, much like the mountains he calls home and the sound of it sticks with you for some time, it’s a voice that haunts the songs it lives in. Long story short ... I’m in hook, line, and sinker!

Following the release of "A Hundred Lies" in 1999, other albums follow. First in 2003 comes "Another Wisdom", and that is followed by "I Never Heard You Knockin’" in 2005. The "Knockin" record is Malcolm’s first self-released album and it makes a number of "best of" lists for the year, including those of the Wall Street Journal and New York Daily Times. With "Not Forgotten" Malcolm Holcombe matches if not surpasses his previous work to date. The first cut "Sparrows and Sparrows" comes off like a forgotten Woody Guthrie song, with a touch more blues and bottle full of whiskey bottle shards. That’s followed by "Goin’ Home" which is filled with longing and leaving: "You tried to hold me like no tomorrow / You tried to keep me on your mind / But I still hear the mornin’ thunder / I still see you there in the window ... right behind you is my suitcase / Follow me boy we’re goin’ home". Home as it turns out is where the heart is and this cut has plenty of heart. Jared Tyler gives "Goin Home" drive with stand-out dobro playing (he shines throughout the disc not only on dobro, but also on bottle neck guitar and lap steel) and Holcombe complements with his own superb picking on guitar.

Often compared vocally to Tom Waits, "Not Forgotten" features at least two cuts that are guaranteed to ensure those comparisons between Waits and Holcombe continue. Both songs are found near album’s end. The first is "Animated Sanctuary", which features just Malcolm’s voice and guitar and the second is "This Ol’ House", with Holcombe on guitar, Tyler once again on dobro, and Aaron Price on acoustic piano. If you close your eyes and listen, you’d swear both were from the Waits’ songbook (especially "This Ol’ House" which sounds like it was one of the cuts left off of the classic"The Heart of Saturday Night".) Holcombe overcomes these connections by filling his songs with images of fields of tobacco, corn, and barley in "Sanctuary" and the loneliness and isolation of "This Ol’ House" as it "creaks and groans / And stays the howlin’ wind / ... thru the winter nites / Bitter winter nights". This is the kind of material that you would find in the mountain blues of Doc Watson or the high lonesome ballads of Dr. Ralph Stanley. Here Holcombe’s roots are firmly planted in the images of Appalachia as are many of the songs of his new collection.

The real suprises on "Not Forgotten" are those songs that are firmly planted in the blues but come on with an edge of rock ‘n roll as found on both "Cryin’ Dime" and "Yesterday’s Clothes". Together they introduce us to a side of Holcombe’s music not heard on past releases and the band of Tyler, Price (this time on B-3 organ), Bill Reynolds on bass (from Donna the Buffalo), and Josh Daly on drums pound away and Malcolm’s aforementioned growl takes on a greater power that borders on a frenzied, focused rage. The results are pleasing and powerful.

I had the opportunity a couple of years ago to interview Malcolm Holcombe while working for a local non-commercial radio station. I remember asking Holcombe to define his sound and he gave me the simplest of answers. He told me his music is folk music ... nothing more, nothing less. More recently he called it "blood flowin’ folk ballads with no sound explanation". As the music fades another storm rolls in, the bugs beat against the screen door, and some animal in the thick air of late spring growls from the edge of darkness. Nuff said.

*SOURCE: The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and the hills outside of Asheville, North Carolina