Durham, North Carolina native, Rob Nance has just released his debut album Lost Souls and Locked Doors and if you need to wet your whistle on a modern take of Americana, Rob is your man. Lost Souls and Locked Doors is awash with finger picking, Appalachia bluegrass, modest Gutherie style strumming, and swooning folk harmonica.
The album is good, though more attention could have been paid to song order and production. The opening track is a bit sluggish and makes the commitment to the rest of the record seem a daunting task. A more upbeat track to open the album would generate more excitement for the listening process and encourage the casual listener to continue. Production wise the album is rather one-dimensional. Everything is right in the middle and the solos could have been made stronger had some panning been employed.
There are some notable high points, however, namely, the songwriting and Nance’s finger picking style. His patterns are dynamic and interesting, rarely mimicking the vocal patterns and thus creating a creative and enjoyable atmosphere for the song. The songwriting, likewise, deserves high accolades. The melodies are catchy, yet unpredictable and the imagery Nance draws upon are timeless, yet used without cliché.
Clearly drawing upon the foundations laid by early folk pioneers Nance seems to posses an equally dark world view of those depression era songsters, yet he does manage to maintain a silver lining. In “Good Day to Swim,” Nance optimistically admits that, “I can hear him knockin’ but he aint getting in/to the bridge with my things, jump off try to grow some wings/ if not it’s looking like a good day to swim.”
The astounding, “Hands like Mine” deserves a listen by all hopeful poets and axe wielders alike. The picking style is a rocking cradle for the rolling melody and elegant lines, “Hands like mine/wrapped around a shovel/white knuckled, digging fool’s ground from the ground.” Excellent.
While the album in its entirety certainly leaves some room for creative exploration, Rob Nance should be proud of his debut accomplishment.