14042014 - Vikesh Kapoor "The Ballad of Willy Robbins"

Who is Vikesh Kapoor? I have no idea. What I can tell just from the first two songs though, is that he has a lot of great albums in his collection. Albums by Townes Van Zandt, John Prine and their likes, all the way back to Woody Guthrie. And, of course, "Nebraska". You can probably tell by now that his songs are stripped down working class folk songs with a tinge of country, but that's only half of it. Going for the heart of Americana can be dangerous for a young and unknown artist, but Mr. Kapoor pulls it off and then some on tracks like "Bottom of the Ladder", "I Dreamt Blues" and the gorgeous "Ode to My Hometown", because his songs have so much heart, soul and total honesty that I'm convinced that he is for real. This is what people should be listening to, not the latest hyped-up faux-folk sensation declared as "the next" whatever. Now, can somebody please bring him to a club near me?