#malcolm holcombe

Darrell Scott Gives “It Must be Sunday” Over to Malcolm Holcombe

- Scott plays support role on 2019 performance of “Pretty Little Troubles”

As he was in 2019, Darrell Scott is content in 2025 to let Malcolm Holcombe have the spotlight.

Scott’s latest “It Must be Sunday” video - No. 37 in the series - is the second to feature Holcombe and, like the first, is culled from the duo’s April 4, 2019, appearance in Tennessee, where they performed Holcombe’s “Pretty Little Troubles.”

Seated, Holcombe picks a walking rhythm on acoustic guitar and spits out gravel with his vocals as Scott, on electric lead guitar, waters down the Holcombe’s dusty delivery with smooth harmonies.

Holcombe, who died in 2024, is a ball of kinetic energy. He plucks his strings so hard, it seems he might pull them from his guitar as he rises, seemingly involuntarily, from his chair while singing. Scott, meanwhile, is calm, both a fan and collaborator, providing support and exposure for a musician who, like Scott remains, was criminally under-appreciated during his lifetime.

Darrell Scott Gives “Sunday” to Malcolm Holcombe on “Yours No More”

Whether on stage or on video, Darrell Scott is not above ceding the spotlight to his friends and collaborators.

So it goes on the latest episode of “It Must be Sunday,” on which Scott plays sideman to Malcolm Holcombe on “Yours No More.”

The video from April 4, 2019, in Tennessee finds Holcombe in command, playing acoustic guitar and singing raspy lead. Scott is seated next to him, supporting Holcombe on electric guitar and backgrounds.

It’s a fragile rendering that matches Holcombe’s physical state at the time of this performance. But the singer and songwriter remains a presence even in his diminished state and - thanks to Scott, video recordings and this series - lives on even after his 2024 death.

Read Sound Bites’ previous “It Must be Sunday” coverage here.

Darrell Scott Channels Malcolm Holcombe in Latest “Sunday” Video

- “A Far Cry from Here” captures 2025 performance in St. Louis

Nearly two years after Malcolm Holcombe’s death, his music still courses through Darrell Scott’s veins.

The latter’s May 30, 2025, performance of the former’s “A Far Cry from Here” in St. Louis is out as the latest “It Must be Sunday” video and arrives one day before the two-year anniversary of Holcombe’s March 9, 2024, death. It finds Scott breathing new life in to the number with an innovative solo-electric presentation.

There’s belongin’ in just longin’ for someone, Scott sings in his smoothest voice.

Simultaneously flat- and finger-picking, Scott plays a mix of rhythm and lead guitar that never allows one technique to dominate the other as licks and chords work together to create a fullness such arrangements typically lack.

But Scott, like the late Holcombe, is anything but a typical performer.

Malcolm Holcombe gets up to Tricks Of The Trade a great listen for the country music lover but still carrying exceptional insight into the realities of life for many in the US. An impeccable band and grizzled vocals communicate the sentiments with genuine

With over sixteen releases, in the US at least, I am ashamed that the name Malcolm Holcombe is new to me…a little research reveals a man who’s been plying his gravelled trade for over twenty-five years garnering much praise and a significant fan base with his unique mix of blues, gospel, folk and bluegrass. This new album, Tricks Of The Trade, however, takes a more electrified (as in guitar) look…

Go on an' hand 'em to me good buddy o' mine

We're cruisin' with the blues an' the cufflinks shinin'

Turn loose o' yo' belt an' pull into my face

Hard up the elevator to the perculator place

Go on an' pace yourself slammin' everyone else'

One eye watchin' always one cigarette left

Hangin' on the door you can find myself

Slung up tight as a tick on a mongrel in Morgantown

I'm sorry, thank you

Yes sir, It's mister in Morgantown

Same ol' tales about squealin' and bleedin'

Blame some ol' man starin' atcha in the TV

I got locked up brakes in a system overheatin'

Drivin' too fast off a road o' good reason

I'm sorry, thank you

Yes sir, It's mister in Morgantown

Welcome to Morgantown my friends

The population's agravatin' plenty 'round here

Straighten yo' jacket look down an' whisper

Yes sir, it's mister in Morgantown

Now lemme use the phone I know a phony talkin' man

He digs in the woods for food an' gonna cover me good

I know a party downtown an' I don't need no jacket

Turn loose o' the blues an' the cufflinks shinin'

But no I'm sorry, thank you

Yes sir, it's mister in Morgantown

Straighten yo' jacket look down an' whisper

Yes sir, it's mister in Morgantown

I'm sorry, thank you