Lincoln Durham

Lincoln Durham characterizes his style as that of a "Southern-Gothic-Punk-Gospel-Revival One-Man-Band Preaching the Good Word of Depravity." The Texas native functions as singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and devotee of neo-country blues. Although born in Whitney, he grew up in Itasca. Music came early: by age four he was already handling the fiddle, and at eight he began entering competitions across Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. At ten he captured the Texas State Youth Fiddle Championship. In high school he pivoted to electric guitar, acquiring a Stratocaster and assembling a trio devoted to Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan material. After graduation he stepped away from performance to pursue art and design. Upon returning he favored an old Gibson acoustic paired with a resonator, developing a raw, sturdy slide technique whose dark, startling songs and gruff vocals evoked a cross between Son House and Tom Waits, or perhaps a deep country blues counterpart to Townes Van Zandt. He cultivated a one-man-band approach that fused his neo-country blues roots with stomp boards, guitar, mandolin, blues harps, and whatever other instruments came to hand; the resulting haunting, riveting performances built a loyal audience. Under the guidance of Ray Wylie Hubbard, Durham relocated to Austin and issued a self-titled EP co-produced by Hubbard and George Reiff. His first full-length effort, The Shovel vs. the Howling Bones, again co-produced by the same pair and featuring remastered tracks from the earlier EP, arrived in 2012 and drew widespread critical acclaim. A follow-up, Exodus of the Deemed Unrighteous, appeared the next year with Reiff handling production solo. Durham resurfaced in 2016 with his third album, Revelations of a Mind Unraveling, and backed the release through extensive touring that included a series of dates supporting Reverend Horton Heat.