Phosphorescent – To Willie
Hey guys, I hope you had a great long weekend. I know I did. I didn’t do shit, so it was awesome catching up on some much needed sleep. Anyway, I’ll get right to it, one-man band, Matt Houck, or Phospherescent, has been putting together some damn good albums for last several years. Hell, I’m shocked this is the first time we have even mentioned this dude’s name on the blog. His 2007 release, Pride, still gets a lot of love on my ipod pretty regularly. I’ve heard several people compare him to indie folk acts such as Iron and Wine, and I would say that’s a pretty good assessment but minus the snore effect. So aside from the great solo albums, about a year ago Houck managed to put together a great tribute album for one of the greatest country artists, Willie Nelson. So we’re a little late on the post but better later than never, ya know?
I think what I like about this album, “To Willie,” is Houck takes a risk by covering some really obscure Nelson songs. You wont find “On The Road Again,” “Momma Don’t Let Your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys,” or “Good Hearted Women” on this thing, instead you’ll hear some really good renditions of “Reason to Quit,” “Pick Up The Tempo” or “I Gotta Get Drunk.” I don’t know about you guys but I’m not a big fan of artists covering other artists’ “hits”. Lets take Steve Earles’ Townes cover album for example. I am a huge Steve Earle fan but I had a hard time committing to Earle’s voice on 15 of Townes’ hits. I’m pretty sure I would have the same feeling if Townes did Earle’s hits. However, this definitely isn’t the case for Houck’s tribute album. Houck was able to showcase some of Nelsons hidden gems, and to a certain extent almost make them sound like his own. Whether it being heavily influenced by indie folk or the Americana genre it put a nice twist on his songs, and with that came a respectable homage. So get there folks, its definitely worth a listen.
enjoy,
Keith
“Reasons to Quit”
“Pick Up The Tempo”
“I Gotta Get Drunk”
