There is a sense of grit and sexiness in the art of Joshua Black Wilkins that extends from his music into his photography. When we were discussing friends work lately my wife immediately jumped to the term “gritty sexy” to describe his photography. Just as the stylistic approach to his portrait work provides a distinctive flavor to relate to the artist, his music shares that same not asking for forgiveness, take this as it is, my heart is ripped from my chest, on the floor and I am bleeding out all my emotion here.
The two just released tracks from the Nashville based songwriter certain run within the same vein of that smoke tinged, back alley grime that I have come to love Wilkins for. His voice, often times compared to that of Tom Waits, is the star of the show. There isn’t a prettiness to it, but its f*cking real and raw and filled to the brim with emotion, sorrow, hurt, and hope. I can feel the words. That is saying something. The political angle tackling racism and southern culture may not be a shock given the sudden state of our country, but Wilkins braces it in a way that makes you listen. And listen deep.
‘bad, bad, news’ and ‘Don’t Go to Alabama’ have a similar sonic aesthetic, with acoustic accoutrements,the lonesome ringing tremolo of an archtop electric, and a steady rhythm section to hold the glue of the songs together.
If you feel like feeling something today, then you should be listening to this.
(photo by Andrea Behrends)