“Proof
of Love” is
the follow up to Old Man Luedecke’s widely acclaimed second
album Hinterland. Produced by multi Juno Award winner Steve Dawson,
this recording finds the pride of Chester, Nova Scotia, well loved for
the stark joyous simplicity of his powerful banjo driven solo shows,
working with a full band for the first time.
Recorded live off the
floor in just a couple of days at the Factory Studio in Vancouver,
“Proof of Love” captures the thrill of hearing music made in the
moment. The band includes John Raham (The Be Good Tanyas,
Kinnie Starr) on drums, Mark Beaty (The Be Good Tanyas) on
bass, Adrian Dolan (The Bills) on fiddle, Steve Dawson on
guitars and Alice Dawson, Rose Cousins, and the
Sojourners on back-up vocals. The result is a hooky unique take on
folk music that swaggers with a breezy depth reminiscent of John Prine
or a more lyrical John Hartford. The songs remain, as always, powerful
early folk-inspired offerings that continue to marry the warmth and
complexity of Old Man Luedecke’s banjo interplay with the emotional
lyricism that has won him a devoted following.
“Proof of Love” has some
unusual heroes painted in some of the best and most exciting language
we’ve had from Old Man Luedecke yet. There’s Zoe, who finds lawns a
yawn and plants a garden instead at her suburban home and thus is the
“Spirit of the age, a breaker of the cage, she’s a proof of love”.
There’s the hero of “Ain’t Goin My Way”, the everyman
that sings about overstretching himself who’s “inner napoleon”
hastens him to a fall. “Sad as a Forest” details the
bitterness of a single leaf in the fall whose life could have been
brilliant but feels, instead, “sad as a forest that’s all been cut
down”. “Big Group Breakfast” is a celebration of the
hangover meal where friends gather in a diner and the song revels in
how such rituals help get them through it all. Old Man Luedecke’s
“Proof of Love” shows again that special catchy poetic quality which
makes his music so endearing and enduring.
Old Man Luedecke has been
busy since the release of his last album. He has been a hit at many
major North American folk festivals and has supported acts such as
Feist, The Be Good Tanyas, Corb Lund, and Joel Plaskett at both club
shows and soft seater venues. He has appeared on festival stages with
the likes of Kris Kristofferson, David Francey, The Carolina Chocolate
Drops, Jill Barber and Buck 65. It was in fact, Luedecke’s driving
banjo riff on Buck’s 65’s “Indestructible Sam” that won the CBC Radio
3 Bucky Award for “Best Hook” for his fellow east coast songwriter.
www.oldmanluedecke.ca
