Artist:     Old Man Luedecke

Album:     Domestic Eccentric

Label:     True North Records

Release Date:     07/24/2015

79

BUY DIGITAL

BUY PHYSICAL

His odd handle and intriguing album title notwithstanding, Chris Luedecke, a.k.a. Old Man Luedecke, has amassed an impressive career over the course of seven albums and nearly a dozen years. Nevertheless, he makes no concession to modern accoutrements, continuing to maintain the steady pluck of his banjo and a steadfast devotion to an absolute acoustic regimen. For Luedecke, that M.O. has paid off bountifully, having garnered him a pair of Juno awards in his native Canada and a small but steady following that cherishes each and every endeavor.

Domestic Eccentric doesn’t expand his palette as much as it adds a thematic continuity that binds the entire effort together. A discourse on domesticity, it injects Luedecke’s trademark humor into everyday tales of wedded bliss, replete with newborns in tow. “You’re getting rid of diapers that you washed every night/We’re saving up for date night so we can have our fight,” he sings on “The Early Days,” a poignant look at the early days of child rearing confusion. Cast in bare bone arrangements, the rest of the album follows suit, all simple sentiment and traditional trappings. With fellow traveler and sympathetic soul Tim O’Brien co-helming the proceedings, songs such as “The Girl in the Pearl Earring,” “Now We Got a Kitchen,” “Chester Boat Song,” “Old High Way of Love” and, in fact, all the rest as well offer a tender touch in their down home designs. Consider these songs a must for anyone currently engaged in co-habitation or with a future family in mind. This Old Man is a wise one indeed.

– Lee Zimmerman