Album Review : Lincoln Durham EP

Jun 15, 2010 Album Reviews

It’s guys like this that make me wish someone would offer me a job in Austin, so I could uproot my family and move there (not that I have an serviceable skill mind you). This ep is a teaser to a debut album that is supposed to hit the shelves sometime this year. Four songs of all kinds of gritty, bluesy, roll down the window and sing along fun.

It’s no surprise that Ray Wylie Hubbard has signed on to produce young Durham’s record. The talent is overfilling the cup. Slide guitar, harmonica, a hellacious backbeat and vocals that would make Muddy Waters proud. Not to say this is a straight blues recording as Durham definitely has that Texas country charm intertwined with his whiskey drenched delta sound.

I would try to single out my favorite tracks, but with only four it is nearly impossible. “Livin’ This Hard” starts the disc out right with a hard rock n’ roll sound that gets you in the right mood.

“Georgia Lee” tells the story of a rough southern woman who wears a tattered dress and plays “Hoochie Coochie Man” on a guitar “blessed by Muddy’s hand” .

The next song ” How Does a Crow Fly” slows the tempo down a little and shows that Durham is no one trick pony. It really showcases his songwriting ability with lines like “I met a girl white as snow, I turned her a shade of grey”.

The last track on the short disc also tells of a man who loves the old blues. “Reckoning Lament” references Robert Johnson’s verse and Fred McDowell’s slide guitar by name. You can really hear Hubbard’s influence on this track as it would have been quite comfortable residing on his last release  A. Enlightment B. Endarkenment (Hint there is no C).

I have listened to this disc a dozen times through since receiving it yesterday and have not tired of it yet. On top of that I have viewed every Lincoln Durham video available on Youtube today. This kid is the real deal and my only complaint is that this is only four songs. Oh one more petty complaint, when his record comes out I will already have four tracks of it, so there won’t be a whole album of new ones.

If I lived in Texas, I would be going to see him as often as I could while he is still playing solo in bars just so I could soak in the feel. Learn more about Lincoln Durham on his website here.

Here is a promo video for “Reckoning Lament”. It’s just Durham and his guitar and it is fucking great.

Tags: album review, fred mcdowell, lincoln durham, muddy waters, ray wylie hubbard, robert johnson, Youtube Clip