James Elkington’s debut solo record, Wintres Woma, is by no means his first foray into music. The English-born, Chicago-based guitar savant has worked with the likes of Jeff Tweedy, Richard Thompson, Steve Gunn, Michael Chapman, Joan Shelley, Nathan Salsburg and Brokeback over the course of his eventful career, and was previously involved with bands The Zincs and Horses Ha.
For his solo debut through, Elkington recorded in Wilco’s Loft in Chicago for a five-day stint with engineer Mark Greenberg. He played every instrument on the record, save the upright bass from Nick Macri and percussion from Tim Daisy, and it further displays his incredible skill on the six-string, along with his own gravelly singing voice. Chicago’s Tomeka Reid is also featured heavily as a vocalist on the album, making it a decidedly local affair.
Still, this record will blow far beyond any neighborhood or genre specific folk coverage — it’s guaranteed to be one of the finest folk records of the year. I’m basing that off the delicate, fiery collaboration from 2015 between Elkington and Nathan Salsburg, Ambsace, which skyrocketed both these fellows to the top of guitar-loving lists across the nation. If you didn’t hear that album, it simply means you weren’t listening hard enough. It remains a prime example of the resurgence of craft and elegance in American (well, and British) guitar-playing.
“I’m proud of where it landed, and it’s personal enough that I couldn’t do anything other than put it out under my own name,” Elkington told The Fader of the album. “I love being in situations where everyone contributes to the music and it emerges somewhere beyond being just the sum of its parts. I also love playing with great songwriters, only being responsible for how my guitar-playing affects the arrangement of a song and not always having to worry about the big picture; in those situations its more like being a passenger on a bus than the driver. For this record I had to drive the bus…”
It’s a pretty good bus, too. “Make It Up” is the first track available off the album, and it rides quick on a gorgeous, jumpy finger-picked pastoral melody that’s leveled by Elkington’s quiet singing. Watch him play the track above in a simple but eclectic video directed by Timothy J Harris that mixes color, instruments, and everyday objects in a jumble of that never phases his playing.
Wintres Woma tracklist:
1. “Make It Up”
2. “Hollow In Your House”
3. “Wading The Vapors”
4. “Grief Is Not Coming”
5. “When I Am Slow”
6. “The Parting Glass”
7. “The Hermit Census”
8. “Greatness Yet To Come”
9. “Sister Of Mine”
10. “My Trade In Sun Tears”
11. “Any Afternoon”
Wintres Woma is out 6/30 via Paradise Of Bachelors. Pre-order it here.
