Duke Garwood’s solo output may be comparatively limited in volume, but he’s nevertheless enjoyed a varied career and has a deeply enviable reputation for being a musician’s musician who plays and sings with soul. Following on from his 2013 album recorded with Mark Lanegan (who has cited Garwood as an all-time favourite artist) ‘Black Pudding’, ‘Heavy Love’ continues down the dark, sparse country road and draws on bleak blues type narratives to conjure an atmosphere that brings the listener in close.
Like Lanegan, Garwood possesses one of those voices that’s like a well-worn and seasoned piece of wooden furniture, with a heavy patina and marks, dents and stains that each tell a story from a life well lived. There’s depth that goes far below the surface, and there’s a dependable solidity to it. The songs themselves are as sparsely arranged as can be: for the most part, nothing but a gently picked guitar provides the accompaniment to his reflections, meditations and narratives, all of which are rich in their humanity.
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The delivery is so intimate that you feel like you’re in the front room of a tiny pub venue with an open fire sitting but feet away from a genuine troubadour singing his life. This, of course, is what real country music is about, and here Garwood proves he’s a true master.
Duke Garwood Online
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