{Review} Lincoln Durham-The Shovel vs The Howling Bones
Lincoln Durham is a walking, talking, wailing, riffing revelation roots music revivalist. His modern spin on the Mississippi Delta blues music originally created by the likes of Son House and Mississippi Fred McDowell is a standout in a world full of synthetic and homogeonized music created to feed lowest common denominator expectations and playlists.
Durham’s gritty stylings are orchestrated masterfully from the production of Ray Wylie Hubbard and George Reiff. Between the three of them, they create a murky mood of greasy redemption set to the tone of a bloodhound staring at a full moon. Several of the songs on this collection (“Reckoning Lament”, How Does a Crow Fly” among others) have been re-mastered from Durham’s debut EP. When combined with new tracks such as “Drifting Wood” and “Last Red Dawn” the collection comes together as a striking trip through the soul of American music. The songs are filled with shady characters and shadier motives. Durham has found a knack with his writing to showcase the seedier sides of human emotion and make the despicable and desperate almost admirable.
Ringing Gibson guitars are paired with Durham’s pained, gripping vocals that sound as if Ray LaMontagne swallowed razor blades and took vocal lessons from Howlin’ Wolf. You don’t just listen to this record, you feel it…experience it. Each syllable and note impacts you. Durham’s made an album that blues afficianados can respect and Texas Music fans can appreciate. Take the pen of Townes Van Zandt and the spirit of Muddy Waters and that comes as close to setting the scene of this album as any description I can give. A wonderfully and wholly realized project that exemplifies all the best authentic qualities of Texas Music…of American music.
Don’t forget “Clementine” Bradley. Love that song. It’s a step off from the rest of the record.