Malcolm Holcombe

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Malcolm Holcombe has been busy.

“My wife keeps me off the couch pretty regular,” says Holcombe, in a call from his home in Swannanoa, N.C. “We went to Dollywood for the first time the other day. I think Dolly did a good job with that.”

Holcombe has also been writing and recording a prodigious amount — one CD per year since 2004. All of Holcombe’s releases have been full of heart and sentimentality, and, lyrically, his latest disc, “For the Mission Baby,” may have no fewer melancholy songs than previous releases. Still, in these new performances there is a sense of joy. The picking is more spirited and Holcombe’s always rough-as-a-washed-out-gravel-road voice sometimes sounds almost gleeful.

“Anytime you get a bunch of those guys together, it don’t take us long, we’ll have a grin or two,” says Holcombe. “We had a lot of fun.”

Holcombe’s sense of fun may have changed over the years. He laughs a lot in the interview. He’s happy to talk about classic horror movies and gardening. And, he says he no longer drinks liquor — a habit that sometimes led to inconsistent or unpredictable performances.

As an artist, Holcombe has never wavered. He has been championed by peers, including Steve Earle (who calls him “the best songwriter I ever threw out of my recording studio”) and Lucinda Williams. Were it not for a run of bad luck, when his major label debut album “A Hundred Lies” was put in limbo for three years, Holcombe’s name might well be as well-known as those of Earle and Williams.

When “A Hundred Lies” was finally released in 1999 the buzz that Holcombe had intially caused in Nashville had faded. Yet when Holcombe re-emerged in 2004 with the album “Another Wisdom,” his work was stronger than ever. Since that time he has slowly built an international following.

“I pay my bills and make ends meet,” says Holcombe.

He says fans have been generous both at home and overseas.

“In Europe people were just so warm and wonderful I just couldn’t believe it,” he says. “Ireland is just absolutely beautiful. The people are nice and polite and they love to laugh. Holland is like a European Texas. A lot of people over there are real familiar with Steve Earle and Townes (Van Zandt). ... They love stories there. My wife says I talk too much, but I can tell some tales.”

For the new album Holcombe traveled back to Nashville to record with producer Ray Kennedy.

“I was thinking about Tim (O’Brien) when I was writing (the song) ‘For the Mission Baby,’” says Holcombe.

When Holcombe told Kennedy that singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist O’Brien was who heard in his head on the tune, Kennedy said, “I’ll call him up and see what he’s doing!”

O’Brien ended up not only playing mandola and singing background on that track but performing on several other tracks as well.

“And (singer-songwriter) Mary Gauthier popped in and did some singing,” says Holcombe.

Holcombe doesn’t go into too much detail about his creative process as a writer, but his characters, both real and imagined, are strong — and it does take some work.

“You gotta have some kind of discipline,” he says. “If you wanna brush your teeth, you gotta put the brush in your mouth. You can’t just wait for it to levitate its (expletive), you know? I’m waiting for some muse, some little leprechaun to come flying out of the clouds up my (expletive) with an idea!”

Family shows up often in his work, and Holcombe speaks lovingly of his wife, Cynthia, and stepson, Jesse, who was three when Holcombe and Cynthia married.

“He’s 11 and smart as a whip,” says Holcombe. “He’s a voracious reader. And he’s a wonderful big help around the house. He’s just a precious young’un. He strengthens my faith in that the love of God is in everybody and in every face.”

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel
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