Vignettes: Rebekah Meldrum & Paul Holdman

copy by Donovan Wheeler
featured image by Tasha Ramey Photography

The first time I heard Rebekah Meldrum sing she stood atop a flatbed trailer on the downhill end of Greencastle’s Franklin Street.  Belting out the lyrics to “Coattails,” and anchored by Paul Holdman’s masterful fret work on blues guitar, Meldrum’s vocals climbed over Wasser Brewing Company’s rooftop and filled air over the city’s First Friday activities.  Hers is a commanding voice.  Firm.  Strong.  She owns the stage exactly the way the face of a band with blues roots should.  Her range, of course, encompasses something much more significant than her impressive degrees of contralto. Yes, the precision of it really gets you.  While she flawlessly changes gears from a low, seductive husk to a ringing reverberation, Holdman walks his solo up and down the neck of his fret board.  It’s professional. It’s polished.  But it’s also rousing and moving, and that’s the thing we remember the most after she’s unplugged the microphone.

Catch them on Friday, May 3, when they return to the Wasser Brewing stage.  If you miss them there, then please, check them out somewhere.

https://youtu.be/y5p-BqUMGVE

Photo by Rob DeVoe. Courtesy of Rebekah Meldrum.

https://youtu.be/NNuPnZWiQfM

https://youtu.be/JZJGrjomNWY

Wheeler proudly teaches AP Language to some bright and lovably obnoxious kids in a small college town. He also contributes to the craft beer website Indiana on Tap and writes for other publications. He started learning to play guitar last fall, but he remains terrible at it.