Matt Heckler: Blood, Water, Coal (2021)

It is safe to say that I was hugely impressed by Heckler’s debut album, ‘After The Flood’, while he was the first artist on the indispensable series, ‘The Magnolia Sessions’, so when I saw this had been released I was expecting great things, and I was not disappointed. On this album the multi-instrumentalist had been joined by upright bassist Jeff Loops (Lost Dog Street Band), while he provides guitar, banjo and fiddle. It was during the recording that the live album was released, which hit #9 on the Bluegrass Billboard Charts, and was still in the charts when this album came out, which got to #3, meaning he had two albums in the Bluegrass charts at the same time.

There is a purity here, an aggression which is not fully realized but is palpable. When I reviewed his debut, I said it came across as a mix of The Pogues and The Band, and while I still think that is a strong description, here he has gone back into his roots. If one wanted to describe the difference between a fiddle and a violin, then compare his style to that of the likes of Chris Leslie and Ric Sanders of Fairport Convention. Although there are times when one can hear similarities between their styles, there is no doubt that Heckler has a far rougher sound, almost as he is forcing the notes out of his instrument as opposed to letting them flow naturally. Against that he may be playing guitar or banjo (no percussion), and one really feels that if we were in the Appalachian Mountains 150 years ago then this is the music we would have heard. He does also bring in more traditional UK and European style folk, yet he always stays very strong to his roots, the result being something very special indeed.

The honesty in this music is just incredible and having now heard three releases all I can say is I am already looking forward to the next one.

Rating: 9/10