ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON APRIL 11, 2013
By Steve Newton
When you hear the Holmes Brothers, you can tell right off that they’ve been tight for ages. Guitarist-vocalist Wendell Holmes and his brother, bassist-vocalist Sherman, go way back, obviously. But drummer-vocalist Popsy Dixon has been part of the combo for over four decades as well, thanks to a chance meeting in New York back in ’67.
“I was playing with a trio at a club,” recalls Wendell on the phone from his Baltimore home, “and during an intermission somebody said, ‘You see that guy sittin’ over there? He can sing, and not only can he sing, he can play the drums! Why don’t you have him sit in?’
“So we did, and I’ll never forget, he sang ‘Let It Be Me’. Then he played the drums and sang, and we did some harmonies together, and he’s been with us ever since. A brother by a different mother.”
On their ninth and latest album, Feed My Soul, the Holmes brothers and Dixon revel in the type of uplifting, rootsy gospel-blues they’re known for. The disc was inspired by the battle Wendell had with cancer back in 2008, from which he emerged healthy and extremely grateful.
“You forgave me, baby, when I needed forgiving,” the 69-year-old croons on the title track. “You gave me the strength to keep right on living.”
”That particular song was inspired by my wife of 40 years,” he relates, ”who stuck by me through all the chemo and the radiation and the throwin’ up and all of that mess.”
It wasn’t just selfless family members who helped the Holmes Brothers bring the passion on Feed My Soul. The trio–which plays the Vancouver FanClub on Wednesday (April 17)–also got a lot of input from Joan Osborne, who produced the album and sang backup on seven tracks.
“We met Joanie back in the ’80s,” says Holmes. “We were hosting a jam session down in the village and she had just come from Louisville. She used to come and sit in with us and we became fast friends, and then when she had her big hit, ‘One of Us’, she didn’t run off into the night—she remembered her friends from old.”
As a guitarist, Holmes has been influenced by the stylings of Curtis Mayfield and Guitar Slim, as well as the great Jimmy Reed, whose playing he describes as “simple, but very special and unique”. His own tasty, less-is-more licks on Feed My Soul are applied in the guise of a self-proclaimed “Strat man”.
“I had a Gibson endorsement,” he explains, “but when they found out I was gonna use my Strat and my Telecaster they kinda dumped me from that endorsement program.”
Sounds like someone should set their sights on a shiny new Fender endorsement, then.
“I have not tried,” replies Holmes, “and they haven’t seeked me out. But that’d be great!”
Your move, Fender Musical Instruments.
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