MATT WOODS

Matt Woods Manifesto

2012-01-05

Matt Woods is from Knoxville, a crossroads town where I-40 crosses I-75 connecting Detroit with Atlanta and the Piedmont with Nashville, Memphis and even the West Coast if you stay with it long enough. The flavors of these disparate regions mix with the smoke of the East Tennessee backwoods and find their way into the stew that is Woods' music. Woods himself sports the aviator sunglasses of Hank Jr. and the Jesus beard and long hair of a jam band hippie. He's got blue collar attitude, classic country harmonies, backwoods honesty, greasy rock and roll and a little Memphis mud. Woods sings about loneliness, murder, honky tonks and real life. “A Broken Heart” and “Wrong Turn Blues” sound how Charlie Daniels might have if he had grown up listening to Nirvana, Smithereens and John Hiatt. “Johnny Ray Dupree” is a classic murder ballad told from death row. “Lost In Tennessee” drips with sweet country harmonies. The rest of the album are fine examples of Cowpunk; some more acoustic than others. Check out “Days of Walking” and “Port St. Lucie.” There all good. Reviewed by Todd Townsend.

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