The Hard Way

Cameron Whitcomb took a roundabout path to country music. The 22-year-old rising star left home at the age of 17 to work on the Trans Mountain pipeline, a job he pursued until the songs he began posting online found an audience and landed him on Season 20 of American Idol. An addict since adolescence, Whitcomb also found sobriety during this period, and these formative experiences serve as a thematic foundation for the 15 tracks on his full-length debut. Produced by Jack Riley, The Hard Way is rootsy country music in the vein of Zach Bryan or Sam Barber, though Whitcomb’s own sound expands to include shades of melodic pop, alt-rock and even a touch of punk. The record opens with its title track, a wrenching account of facing and overcoming the demons that accompany addiction and depression. That tune also takes sonic cues from the stomp-clap folk of the 2010s, an influence also heard on tracks like “Options” and “Hundred Mile High”. Other highlights include “Quitter”, a clear-eyed chronicle of chasing sobriety that acknowledges the interpersonal challenges of addiction, and “As I Stand Before the Coffin”, on which Whitcomb grapples with loss and grief with compassion and self-awareness. Whitcomb ups the personal ante of this collection with periodic spoken interludes, lending the album a lived-in intimacy that underscores its immense vulnerability.