Thursday, February 4, 2010

Matt Dillon's Soul Patch:: Old Man Luedecke Rear Guard

Honestly, I'm not sure if too many people equate Chris "Old Man" Luedecke and the idea of a traditional "single", but around these parts the Old Man is as much a Nova Scotian treasure as Schooner Beer and Peggy's Cove, so any new song gets us excited. He's a unique combination of story teller, melody, and wit that makes him an absolute delight to see live but a strong enough story writer to make a banjo record one you play until the grooves wear thin. He's also one of the only artists that get a thumbs up from both herohill writers AND our wives (Dan Mangan is one of the only others I can think of right now).

So yesterday, Chris released the first song (Rear Guard) from his new album, My Hands Are On Fire and Other Love Songs and naturally, it's amazing. Claw hammered banjo notes make a path for Chris' tales and within seconds you are hooked. The record - which is due out March 30th and will certainly be featured here closer to that time - is dyn-o-mite, with Chris fingers picking fierce melodies, but Vancouver's Steve Dawson's fingers doing some heavy production work. The duo has worked together in the past, but I really feel like Dawson pushed the sound and the banjo shares the spotlight with blazing fiddle, guitar, and drums and really makes an already great artist even better.