Album Review: Matthew Perryman Jones - Land of the Living

We finally got around to listening to the latest from Matthew Perryman Jones and now I'm kicking myself why it took so long. The Land of the Living is cerebral - takes a couple of listens to recognize its themes and genius. What else could you call a set of recordings influenced by Vincent Van Gogh (O Theo & Land of the Living), Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca, and Persian poet Rumi (Land of the Living). There is no way these songs should even compete with the mindless pop crap that monopolizes are airwaves. The CD starts off with a haunting stories in both Stones From the Riverbed & Poisoning the Well leading to O Theo - easily the best track of the CD. The song weighs on your conscious:

In the half light of the city, She took off all of her clothes, I flew from the height of the mountain, Into the valley of dry bones- all alone, And my heart was still unknown, I was drunk and full of sorrows, I was longing for a home, With nowhere to go, O Theo.

Powerful. But don't stop there. The first rockin' song kicks in with Waking the Dead and then reverses itself in Keep It On the Inside to the title track. All are heavy, thought provoking songs - "You are beautiful and true, Dark and lovely, You stole my heart before I could give it away, I’ve said enough."

Ten Out Of Tenn Overwhelms Club IOTA

We've spent time discussing our MyJoogTV episode featuring Trent Dabbs & Andrew Belle, yet we've failed to give a proper representation of the entire Ten Out Of Tenn show at IOTA on September 16th 2011. When we arrived, the club was 90% filled with patrons either securing space near the stage or finishing dinner. But most impressive was the line outside of fans trying to enter that stretched past Whitlows. There was no way all these people would get in.

 The Ten Out Of Tenn tour features Amy Stroup, Katie Herzig, Gabe Dixon, Tyler James, Andrew Belle, Matthew Perryman Jones, Trent Dabbs, k.s. Rhoads, Butterfly Boucher, Jeremy Lister, & Will Sayles. Sayles is the tour drummer - rarely getting a break.As Dabbs explained in the video, the musicians are all multi-instrumentalists and after 3 days of heavy rehearsing, were able to support each other as any longtime band mate. During the set, each musician fronts for two songs, then supports the other musicians onstage. And its quite a show.

We are obviously fans of Dabbs and Belle, but became quickly impressed with the entire entourage. Matthew Perryman Jones was the rocker of the group and its his guitar that is most noticeable in the MyJoogTV videos. k.s. Rhoads had a very interesting solo before the Ten joined him onstage, playing with the reverb. The best single performance was from Jeremy Lister in a solo, "Bed You Made". What a voice. Standing next to the band, I heard Rhoads shout, "can you believe that". These guys and gals impress each other. And finally there's Katie Herzog, talented, beautiful, and a playful stage presence. What more do you want.

The finale was extremely appropriate. The male members marched through the crowd, James on the Trombone, covering one of Nashville's greatest - Johnny Cash and "Ring of Fire". Pretty cool. And yes, eventually the line subsided as everyone made it into the show.