Review: Andrew D. Huber

Andrew D. Huber - Days Amidst The Dust (NorthLight Records)
The third solo album from the Gecko Club frontman, Andrew D. Huber, is another hugely satisfying slab of lively Celtic folk-rock. Lyrically, he’s coming out fighting, with songs of resistance and reclamation providing no shortage of fist-in-the-air moments. When he’s at full tilt, he hits his acoustic guitar like it’s wronged him in a previous life, but for the most part he shows mercy, and let his voice and words provide the passion. He fills out the sound with various wood and string instruments, including bouzouki and mandolin.

The album opens with “Resurrection Mary”, a wonderfully evocative title for a song that refers to Chicago’s infamous hitchhiker ghost story, though Huber messes with the narrative and turns it into something different. Perhaps it’s a love song - definitely a song of longing. It’s my favourite track here, but there’s plenty more good stuff to enjoy. “Grand Marais” transports the listener to the banks of Lake Superior and the Minnesota harbour town that gives the song its name. It’s a song about the troubadour life, a form that when done well can be compelling. Here Huber nails it. On “Bottom of the Glass” he teaches his guitar a lesson it won’t forget in a while, and it’s good and rousing. “Letter from St. Paul” is no less powerful, though infinitely quieter.
www.geckoclub.com
Rob F.