Troy Engle is more than just a terrific singer and songwriter. He is, in fact, a virtual tour-de-force, an artist who’s proven to be so versatile that he literally could be considered a one-man band, tackling acoustic guitar, resophonic guitar, pedal steel guitar, baritone guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, upright bass, drums, percussion, and strings, doing so with such agility and ability that it’s easy to believe there’s an entire ensemble involved. With his new album, Back Home, he combines that savvy with sentiment in equal proportion, resulting in an album that resonates long after its last notes fade away.
Engle took his first steps towards a solo career with 2018’s Southern Skies, an album that inspired our esteemed Bluegrass Today editor John Lawless to declare it “makes clear that this talented picker has what it takes.” He followed that effort with Fox Hollow Memories, a tribute to Tom T and Dixie Hall in 2020. With Back Home, he not only plays all the instruments, but also produces, mixes, and masters it as well. His efforts have paid off with an exceptional album, not to mention a number one bluegrass gospel song, courtesy of its track titled Never Too Lost.
Taken in tandem, Back Home is, as the name implies, an album imbued with emotion, nostalgia, reverence, and time-honored tradition. Engle had a hand in writing all the songs, offering ample opportunity to bring those feelings fully to the fore. The Good Old Days, Back Home, This Old Porch, and Boy I Used To Be echo those themes in a most affecting way, sharing warm thoughts of home and hearth with tender trappings. Some Things Don’t Go Out Of Style details a certain moral common ground. The Praying Kind is bittersweet, but affirms the need for faith even when one appears to have no other option but to believe.
The album concludes with a fitting finale, We Built a Life, a song that conveys a sense of ultimate satisfaction through sweetness and serenity. It confirms the fact that Troy Engle is not only an adept instrumentalist (listen to his flurry of banjo licks on Lonesome Lesson Learned, and his upbeat and expressive delivery on songs such as Never Too Lost and Outrun the Pain as prime examples) but an artist that puts full emphasis on insight and integrity. In that regard, Back Home makes for a most desirable destination.
