I asked my friend Phil Heibeler if Friday night's entertainment was the result of his incredible luck or his inpeccable taste. He reassured me Lincoln Durham was no happy accident, but the product of hours of searching for the very best musicians he could bring to the Corner Cafe.
Job well done Phil. Durham is sort of an unlikely cross between John Mellancamp and Blind Willie Johnson. As he began to play, the Corner Cafe transformed into a 1930's Brazos bottom juke joint. Everyone there seemed to see the same qualities that Ray Wylie Hubbard must see, as he has taken him under his wing, producing his latest CD, which is sure to be a Texas blues classic. We had to ask his age, as we could not believe a 17 year-old could be that good, unless of course he was Hubbard's son. But even though he looks quite young, he is actually old enough to have honed those masterful blues skills he so wonderfully demonstrated. When he played Georgia Lee, I was sure I felt those familiar Ray Wylie Hubbard, git-down Texas blues chills down my backbone.
And this kid is a whole lot better lookin'! He is a throwback to everything we hardheaded Progressive Country, long neck suckin', Texas music fans were sure would probably die with us; authentic Texas born and bred music, that is what it is, and makes no apologies to the pervasive, manipulated whims of our culture. This artist had found his sound. Now the wise and the lucky will find him.
Lincoln Durham. Cottonmouthed lyrics and Blues bottom slide guitar that will make a mammoth jack mule swoon. Look for his next CD, you are guaranteed to love it until you just get tired of smiling.
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