Every once in a while, you get an album that from the first note you can tell it is going to be very hard to turn off. The Matt Woods Manifesto is one of these albums.
Matt Woods, the bearded maestro out of Knoxville, TN, has cultivated a harvest of tunes that draw from the dark side of the human condition. His words tell of lost love, bad choices, missed opportunities, infidelity, death and a musician’s life.
Songs like “Days Of Walking”, about life on the road, “Wrong Turn Blues” a man’s choices land him behind bars then he can’t cope when he gets out and “A Broken Heart” dealing with cheating on a loved one epitomize the subject matter of Woods’ tunes. With 13 songs of damn fine music, 2 tunes make this whole album worth the money. Half way through the record, there is the song “Johnny Ray Dupree” which details a man’s life on death row. Running through why he is there on to the execution, Matt’s ability as a writer shines. “Jellico Mountain” is a brooding song that would fit well in the Drive-By Truckers set list. The track deals with the dark history of Jellico, TN, filled with death and destruction.
While the subject matter is dark, and Woods has shown he can pen the sad song, this is not a depressing record. It is an old school southern country album in the vein of Merle, George or Hank. The Matt Woods Manifesto is a good listen and well worth giving it a spin. Listening to this album, you can almost smell the smoke and stale PBR from a dirty little honky tonk where his tunes blare from the juke box.
In addition to the new album, Woods will be playing Smith’s Olde Bar in May. Stay tuned for more info on his show here in Atlanta, but for now go get Matt's Manifesto, you will thank me.
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