Matt Powell - Dragonfly

As i added that sidetrack to last post, i was just gonna say a short sentence about Matt Powell when i realized that that would not suffice. My goal here is to get you to go buy Dragonfly, but i'm gonna try to do that without posting any more tracks from it. You got two here - that should have already convinced you. if not, here......

"While I was waiting out the aforementioned record deal I wrote a ton of songs; more than enough for one album. So I decided to make two: one that I knew I would like, and one that I thought everyone would like. I always wanted to do something that I played all the instruments on so I made “Dragonfly”. This was the one I thought only I would like, but as it turns out it seems to be everyone’s favorite. I like to call it “porch music”. I don’t think I played all the instruments on it that well back then but I guess I got my point across. I do love most of those songs though. I did it in my bedroom on an Otari MX20-20 with a couple of AKG-414s (for you gearheads) for about $800 bucks. It’s a great “sit by the water” record."
read the whole self-written bio.

At the above link to LoseStarMusic.com, you can still get a hard copy of the disc. Do it while you can - self released albums like that don't hang around long. You can download the album at Ourtracks, too. When he says he played everything, he means it - everything from guitar, bass, banjo, dobro, harmonica, and harmony vocals to, not just whistles, but harmonizing whistles. A perfect mix deep, introspective laments and uplifting, folky tunes. Dragonfly remains one of my all-time favorites.

"there'll come a day, when i hit the ground.
when the big sky dive is over, and i'll touch down.
And i hope my angel will have pillows and feathers for me,
in case i come down... too hastily"
- from The Airplane Song

If Dragonfly is Matt's folkiest effort, then Fluke Luck and Jesus is his bluegrassiest. He says seeing Allison Krauss & Union Station changed his life. He got a little help in the studio this time - Nate Rowe played upright bass - everything else was Matt. Again, he explains it best here.

• mp3: Matt Powell - A Whiskey Shot Closer ~ from Fluke Luck and Jesus (2004) (out of print)

His previous works, The Money and the Grass and Ten Gallon Heart, are obviously more blues inspired. Heavy, electric laden songs that show where Matt started out musically.

• mp3: Matt Powell - Striped Sunshine ~ from The Money and the Grass (1998)
• mp3: Matt Powell - Bulletproof Blanket ~ from Ten Gallon Heart (2001)

His 2007 release, New Kind of Something, is a good mix of all his styles that creates... well, A New Kind of style. For me, it's not his best work (we know what i think that is) but i feel like it's maybe a little more marketable. I was really hoping that a track he penned while playing in Wade Bowen's band, West 84, would show up on it. Wade cut a real good version of it, with Matt on electric guitar and harmony vocals, but i wanted to hear what Matt would do with such a compelling song, on his own.

• mp3: Wade Bowen - Broken Reflection ~ from Lost Hotel (2006)

"take apart the smiles they've stapled to my face.
make them take the needles out of me.
help me stitch these stinging cuts, where i still bleed.
they've broken my reflection, and i am in need" - MP