Three years ago, Vikesh Kapoor performed at Howard Zinn’s memorial service in Boston, in front of Zinn’s family and colleagues (including Noam Chomsky). Inspired by Zinn’s lifelong battle against class/race injustice, Kapoor spent the next two years in Portland working on a concept record based on a related newspaper article. His debut album, The Ballad Of Willy Robbins, chronicles the brutal but hopeful story of a working class man who slowly loses everything: ambitions, health, family and shelter.
Best 100 Albums of the Year – ROUGH TRADE
“Kapoor’s cameos of blue-collar life are poignant and universal: wrecked home towns, insecure employment, busted dreams. An impressive debut.” ★★★★ THE GUARDIAN
“A series of sharply etched portraits of struggling Americans that points back along a road of socially conscious songs.” – THE NEW YORKER
“Sincere, husky ballads of the apathetic, recession-era (or Depression-era) working man.” – INTERVIEW MAGAZINE
“One of our favorite folk albums from 2013” – THE FRETBOARD JOURNAL
“Folk’s Newest Hero” – THE BLUEGRASS SITUATION