Review: Lincoln Durham

Lincoln Durham - The Shovel (vs) The Howling Bones (Rayburn Publishing)
A swamp blues set, a great surprise, as Lincoln has the disheveled and unkempt modern rock star look, complete with bowler hat and obligatory whiskers. Just for a minute I thought 'Here we go, a Mumford And Son, all on his own'. Fortunately, no such (bad) luck. This is music that’s been weathered, gestated and then raised on blues that are as deep as the South they represent. He never spares his voice, launching it straight into the maelstrom of harmonica and slide guitar that haunts the first three tracks. Even when the pace slows for "Clementine", and then "Mud Puddles", there are no holds barred. If Lincoln were to take up painting you would get a Rothko rather than a Monet. Think Rauschenberg's scrap metal sculptures (a fellow Texas 'miner' of art), crushed and twisted, yet defining the past, the moment, and the future in the work; Lincoln does the same with song.

Intense music is what we have here, conjured up by this young man, and then produced with a startling freshness from Texas music legend Ray Wylie Hubbard. Despite the roots from which it comes, this is modern-sounding blues, constructed by a strange, strong will, and built to last... just like the original material that it was hewn from. Recommended for anyone with heart and soul, and with a need to have both 'moved'.
http://lincolndurham.com/
Kev A.