Minnesota-born folk musician Adam Hammer’s newest blues EP, “Let it Burn”, is a change of pace from his last release, “Tattooed Folk”.
Hammer was born in Henning, Minn., but musically, he was born during his yearlong excursion into the heart of Tennessee, where he traveled and played with the locals of Nashville. Upon his return to Minnesota, Hammer collaborated with Doug Yorgason in the group East Arm to create “The EP”, as well as releasing a solo EP, “Figments”.
After a short hiatus from recording, Hammer recently went back to the studio to record a full length album, currently referred to as “Broken Like You”. This session also spawned “Let it Burn”, due to the proposed difference in sound between the two records, with “Broken” as folk, and “Burn” being much darker blues-inspired pieces. Hammer collaborated on “Burn” with his band, The Impact, which includes Dave Cofell on guitar and harmonica, Cody Jergenson on bass, and Jon Schulte on drums.
The first track, “Let it Burn”, is a unique mix of blues style vocals, lyricism, and acoustic finger-picking. Hammer’s devil-may-care vocal sound is perfectly suited for the mood of the song. The picked acoustic guitar toes the line between folk and blues and never fails to catch the ear.
“Blood on a Crescent Moon”, the second track, sounds and feels like it could have been taken straight from a Jim Morrison era Doors album. The guitar sound is quite similar to “Let it Burn” and it fits beautifully. Hammer’s brilliant lyrics prop up this song to be the shining star of the entire EP.
“The Drive” changes the game with a John Lee Hooker style chord progression throughout the track, and adds a harmonica to the mix. The lyrics feel almost punk-inspired, definitely not what is commonly referenced when talking about traditional blues lyricism.
“Death of Me”, the fourth track, attempts to add diversity by downplaying blues style chords and accentuating an electric guitar, but ultimately falls flat, straying too far from the core of the album. The vocals and lyrics work to pull it out of mediocrity, playing on the phrase “you’re going to be the death of me”, however in this case, the electric guitar is the cold-blooded killer.
The song that rounds out the EP, “Ballad of Lucy”, is actually a reinvention of the original, which was released as a folk piece on Hammer’s “Tattooed Folk” EP. It feels much better here, with the addition of bluesy finger-picked guitar and more emotional vocals from Hammer.
In all, the “Let it Burn” EP is a masterfully assembled blues album that flows seamlessly from one track to another and works past its few low points with ease. Hammer’s guitar tells stories as ably as his vocals and leaves a wonderful afterglow. “Burn” also doesn’t suffer from plights like other local musicians such as low production value, and frankly, sounds like it belongs in any blues lover’s collection. Hopefully we see more blues inspired pieces from this talented folk artist after work finishes on his long awaited album, “Broken Like You”.
