Independent music artist Jim Duff has returned with two gravelly, sentimental tracks highlighting true American patriotism and the kind of rugged vulnerability that has set him apart as a unique, musical act. Duff is able to do what many can’t, use his flaws as a vocalist to full advantage – the music has this crooning, unabashed emotionality to it, but his caustic voice balances things. It creates this dichotomy where everything in the tracks “Life Starts” with “You and Never Gone” work in totality, rather than highlighting one key aspect of the songs. The new singles have a kind of melancholic undertone, though.
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Duff always has been one for nostalgia, but there’s a particularly sentimental air to each piece – particularly “Never Gone.” It’s fitting both tracks were dropped after Fourth of July weekend, and boast an unapologetically patriotic tonality with the image of New York City on both of the covers. But Duff isn’t making an obvious, sweeping statement with either song – listen to the lyrics and like every Duff piece they’re painfully personal. In many ways the songs form a prologue and epilogue to a relationship’s duration, “Life Starts” with You fittingly about the magic of a burgeoning, long-term romance. “Never Gone”, obviously, an ode to the inherent finality of said relationship, despite eternity of its impact.
It isn’t exactly subtle stuff, but when you have someone like Duff at the helm, it doesn’t need to be. Certain themes are timelessly effective, and in a capable performer’s hands feel fresh and contemporary. Duff’s musical persona is a particularly difficult juggling act, as he adopts a retro, bluegrass and folk kind of sound, juxtaposing that with a modern-minded series of lyrics tapping into unique male vulnerabilities. All while capitalizing on a growing medium that will redefine modern entertainment, using platforms like YouTube and Spotify and adopting self-representation as an effective circulatory medium to amass views, clicks, and publicity for his music.
The kind of freedom in terms of distribution has opened a whole new set of doors for what defines actually popular music. That’s what makes acts like Duff’s so exciting. In some ways, things have been meritocratic again. Acts like Duff’s which don’t worship at the altar of what corporate decides is good or ‘popular’ music, can have their day in the court. The results speak for themselves.
Coast Radar’s Lauren Hayes describes Duff’s craft as follows: “Some songs don’t need to be loud to leave a mark. Jim Duff knows this better than most. The Kentucky-raised, Cincinnati-based singer-songwriter has spent more than thirty years writing music that skips the spectacle and goes straight for the gut. With over 300 original songs pulling from folk, Americana, country, blues, jazz, and rock, Duff has always been more interested in honesty than in trends…(doesn’t) dress it up. He (doesn’t) need to. The emotion does all the heavy work, and the result (are)…recording(s)…feel(ing) less like a performance and more like a private moment you somehow got permission to witness. Few artists can pull that off. Duff does it naturally.”
Chadwick Easton