Because paying homage is probably the most fun you can have paying anything, Phosphorescent have announced the February release of To Willie, an album dedicated to the music of country/folk icon Willie Nelson.
The album title is a play on Nelson’s own 1975 tribute album To Lefty From Willie, which featured the music of Lefty Frizell, an influential 1950s country/honky tonk singer. Matthew Houck (singer, guitarist and staple member of the otherwise rotating cast of players) chose 11 of his favorite Willie Nelson tunes for the album, many of which are lost tracks of sorts from deeper in Willie’s song catalog.
To Willie follows 2007’s Pride, Phosphorescent’s debut on the Dead Oceans label, which had a whole lot of folks singing his praises. Though the exact dates and venues remain to be determined, Phosphorescent will be touring across the country this winter and spring. If you’re in New York, you can catch Houck and the gang this week at the Bell House in Brooklyn on Friday night. For a refresher course on the Phosphorescent sound, have a listen to “Torn Up Praise” from Pride below.
MP3 Download – “Torn Up Praise”
To Willie track list
01 Reasons To Quit
02 Too Sick To Pray
03 Walkin’
04 It’s Not Supposed To Be That Way
05 Pick Up The Tempo
06 I Gotta Get Drunk
07 Can I Sleep In Your Arms
08 Heartaches Of A Fool
09 Permanently Lonely
10 The Last Thing I Needed (First Thing This Morning)
11 The Party’s Over
