Flanfire

Matt Slusher: McAllen Man!

I have been a Matt Slusher fan ever since the early daze of the South Austin Jug Band -- and have known all along that he is first and foremost a guitarist (Harris and Ryden, Rodney Hayden) who picked up the mandolin because Warren Hood could not play three instruments at a time in the same band -- and did amazing things with an instrument which at the time was fairly new to him. More recently, Mattie Groves (oops! but he has that folkish impishness about him, and I am a big fan of old English ballads) Slusher has been picking and grinning with Tommy Byrd and Kathy Street and the wonderful Robyn Ludwick (went to Europe with her band -- and I believe they may have opened for Robyn's brother Charlie).

In his thirty-fifth year, McAllen Matt has released his first solo CD -- and when I say "solo," this time I mean he plays EVERY instrument (some of which he borrowed) on all 12 songs. He also produced, engineered, mastered, took photos (including of his own paintings), and swept the floor of his living room studio -- and also gave us a jewel case with all the lyrics to all the songs.

The CD opens with the title cut, "Somewhere Between Nowhere and Gone," in which Nowhere is somewhere in California -- a song that makes you want to open a tallboy and tell tall tales, and "listen to Kris Kristofferson sing a Beatles song," or "to Cash sing Petty." I gotta tell you -- this music grows on you -- and why not? Slusher wrote "Ramen Noodle Rag" and many others of my favorite Jug Band songs (or bits of songs).

Now, I will say that while I admire Matt's effort to do the whole thing himself, I hardly think he can pull off the one-man band on stage and trust that some of his many many friends will join him at what I hope will be several gigs to showcase the new CD. Indeed, Matt is "on my way" -- NOT "listening to Willie Nelson sing a Ray Charles song" ... but singing his own. Some of them on this CD may well be about someone he once fiddled around with ... but then real life is often the spark that sets afire the creative muse.

"I Know" is one of those hopeful songs that sometimes creeps through, but then there's "The Sun Didn't Come Out Today" -- "Maybe I belong here all by myself tonight, To walk these lonely sidewalks by the city lights, The cold damp darkness suits my mood, and it's a little sad, but hey ... the sun didn't come out today." And yet the banjo lead here treats these lyrics with a bluegrass bounce, morphing into mandolin and electric guitar riffs that make you want to do-si-do and swing your partner (if you had one)..... a Charlie Robison feel..... with a hint of piano.

"She's Going Out to Carolina" may be Matt's best vocal -- and, yes, it too lets us know that, "she wasn't really mine to keep...." Gotta like Matt's engineering feats here for keeping the flow going while wearing about a dozen ten-gallon hats. One of my favorites on the CD is "Small," an upbeat call to recognize that, "It's a big ol' world, and I just gotta try."

The high point of the CD, though, has to be "The Cost," which has the feel of a cool morning in deep rural Virginia and the irony of a man whose eyes have been opened but who still feels "the urge to wander" and yet "can't help but wonder if this freedom is worth the cost." I can just hear John Starling and the Seldom Scene in the deep background (and BTW, John has a great new record that once again makes my skin crawl). Good electric guitar solo here, too.

"Shine on Moon" is a showcase for Matt's mandolin, an old-fashioned tune that hearkens back to the 19th Century. "Love and Love Again" brings out memories of Will Dupuy -- and finally our boy is all better .... even though "love ain't no simple game." "I'm Still Here" is pure singer-songwriter, quiet and honest ... and with that tinge of hope that comes from the recognition that, "someone believed in me." And finally there's "The Slush Breakdown," Matt's tribute to all of the great Texas fiddle players (including, whether he knows it or not, my grandfather who was a legend in his own time long before the turn of the 20th Century). And just as he did when the Jug Band reshuffled to form the "South Austin Hug Band," Matt is on the fiddle (and everything else) on this hot instrumental ditty.

Matt says of his own music that, "This one is meat, green pepper, egg and onion covered in a couple of slices of white, square wonder bread till it's one big meatball wrapped in greasy, gooey dough. Just like mom used to make." Kinda makes you hungry for a bite - right?

I have a friend who says the songs he writes are way too sad for anyone else but him to hear.


Flanfire -- Bringing LIFE to Austin music.