malcolm holcombe :: gamblin' house

malcolm holcombe is from the blue ridge mountains in north carolina, a place where one imagines life to be both simpler and harder, and the more beautiful for it, an assumption for which listeners can find some reflective evidence in the gravel-hard texture of holcombe's voice (and countenance). just take a listen to the song below, "evelyn," off of holcombe's new album gamblin' house, which will be released this coming tuesday. listen to the way holcombe unleashes his guttural rasp, as frayed & lived-in as his shirt, to draw out that name, eeeeeeeeeevelynah, and how he suffuses the single word with an entire history of emotion. if you're anything like me (which for your sake i should probably hope is not true) holcombe will have won you over before he's even paused for a breath.

malcolm holcombe - evelyn

you can pick up a copy of gamblin' house here. and if you live in the southeastern united states, you might could check out these tour dates and find holcombe stopping over at a music hall near you.