In a recent Newyorker.com piece on Woody Guthrie, mention was made of the various secondary and tertiary heirs to his socially conscious voice. Vikesh Kapoor was cited as one of the latter. Kapoor's story sounds familiar: raised in rural Pennsylvania in an immigrant family, dropped out of college to become a mason's apprentice before finding his left-wing voice with his guitar. The nine tracks on this debut album loosely follow the story of the eponymous hero as he stumbles through recessionary America. In Kapoor's critique are echoes of Guthrie, as well as early Dylan and Jacques Brel. The instrumental settings could be from Inside Llewyn Davis, but Kapoor's voice is earnest and fresh. Is there life in political songcraft? Judge for yourself at his shows with The Handsome Family in Belfast, Cork and Limerick next month.vikeshkapoor.com
Download: Bottom of the Ladder, Searching for the Sun