I first came across A.A. Bondy nearly three years ago, supporting Okkervil River at the Borderline. A complete throwback to the days of the early singer-songwriters, he had more than a shade of early Dylan to him, without being anywhere near close enough to the master to sound like a cheap imitation - despite his acknowledgement of his roots, most obvious on the night during an inspired take on 'John The Revelator', his bluesy fingerpicking style and tone of voice is instantly recognisable. Very Southern in style, his music often takes on overtly religious topics, but it is the sheer intimacy of it that really stands out for me.
The day after the gig, he released a Daytrotter session, which does a really good job of capturing his live sound. I highly recommend both his albums, especially the first, but this is probably the best place to start for a new listener. He used to be in a band called Verbena, which I investigated and found incredibly dull, only turning to solo work after that band fizzled out in the early 2000s. He released 'American Hearts', his debut, on Fat Possum in 2007, and followed it up with a second in 2009. Hopefully the pattern will be repeated and we'll get a new record at some point later this year.
I've picked my favourite song from the session to be today's SOTD. 'Witness Blues' is, to me, a song about the difficulties of protest, with it's chorus "once there was a time to join the army, and once there was a time to hear the news, and once there was a time for easy silence, but now the jury waits for you”, but it is fairly ambiguous. Whatever it's about, it's stunning.
A.A. Bondy - Witness Blues
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