Friday, February 3, 2017

LP Review: "Let It Slide" by Mark Porkchop Holder

Let It Slide
May I be candid with you for a moment?

My earliest memories are living in the, then uncivilized, suburbs with a man I knew as my father. As my age increased, I could no longer escape that this man was my step-father, but there was never any question in my mind about my place in my family.

Well, fast forward about a decade and this man and an old woman were sitting on the couch in my living room telling me how much they loved and missed me.

Well, that's a kind of a strange thing from two complete strangers to me. In a couple years' time my home was living with them and my time in Illinois began with my father's family.

They were blood, but for the most part, they were never family. The experience that I'd been hoping for never happened, except for with one small segment of this family. My aunt and her husband. These two people, upon meeting them, we had that moment, That feeling of knowing where I came from. On both sides of my family, I'm the black sheep, and not to say that in a disparaging way, but I've always been different even in my own home.

Mark Porkchop Holder
Mark Porkchop Holder feels like an old friend, if not family.

My personal journey back into music really started taking off when I saw his former bandmates, the Black Diamond Heavies, performing in St. Louis at the Schlafly Tap Room.

This was long after his departure.

As much as I am a member of the music media, I'm even more of a music fan. So, the break up of The Black Diamond  Heavies has been unfortunate, but has yielded more.

There have been emails about Holder's upcoming album and press releases galore. It has only made my personal hunger grow stronger. There are even videos on YouTube of the Man and James Leg performing together.

Holder's record is like a cousin both Blood On The Keys and Victory Motel Sessions. Holder and King Mud have created more traditional blues records, but Leg has stranger, wilder music.

On his own, Holder has brought to a boogie blues record to the party. It's been a long time since we've heard boogie blues like this. The biggest complaint I have is that it needs another fifteen to twenty minutes of this.

Holder, though out of sight for awhile, seems to have no ring rust on his fingers or his voice. His voice and his guitars are stretched to the limit seemingly taunting the breaking point.

Between getting up to dance and running to the bathroom to cry, Mark Porkchop Holder is going to make you feel and maybe wake up that part of your soul that knows how powerful music is.

Release: 2/10/17
Genre: Boogie Blues
Label: Alive-Natural Sound
Formats: LP/CD/Digital
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