Matthew Houck, the brains and tattered voice behind Phosphorescent, has been spending a lot of time with Willie Nelson this year. In February, Houck released To Willie, an achy breaky collection of Nelson covers so well-received Nelson invited Houck to meet-up and perform on his Sirius/XM show as part of his 76th birthday celebration months later. They must have really hit it off: Phosphorescent has been asked to join Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and others at Farm Aid in October. And, in addition, Houck and Co. will be touring the States behind new Phosphorescent material just recorded in Brooklyn this summer. Many tears for you beers, dates below:

09.05 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
10.02 Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
10.04 St. Louis, MO @ Farm Aid, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
10.05 Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone Cafe
10.07 Nashville, TN @ Exit In
10.08 Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree Cafe
10.09 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
10.11 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
10.12 Charlotteville, VA @ IS Venue
10.13 Washington, DC @ Black Cat
10.14 Baltimore, MD @ The Ottobar
10.15 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
10.16 Providence, RI @ Providence Black Repetory Theater

Hot on the heels of his Willie Nelson tribute album, To Willie, Phosphorescent will join the country legend at this year’s Farm Aid, along with John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Jamey Johnson, Wilco, Neil Young, and Jason Mraz. The concert, to be held on October 4 at St. Louis’ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, is one of many in Phosphorescent’s fall tour; a full roster of tour dates will be released in the near future, so stay tuned.

Phosphorescent’s more-than-just-a-tribute-album tribute album to Willie Nelson, To Willie, has been getting its share of praise since its release earlier this year — including from us — but the album’s latest fan is the man himself. Willie invited Phosphorescent to perform on his Sirius/XM radio channel “Willie’s Place” as part of his 76th birthday celebration.
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SXSW is just a few short weeks away, and the performance schedule has finally been officially released via the event’s website. Yes, it is only the “official” line-up, and there are sure to be tons of “unofficial” parties announced in the next few weeks, but it’s nice to get a few confirmations to add to our schedule.
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Any time you talk about the music of an iconic artist, you have to consider that very specific part of their legacy that lies simply in the tone and timbre of their voice. This is true particularly with folk/country/acoustic singers, whose sounds are inevitably heavily guided by the color of their individual voices — think Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams. Think Willie Nelson.
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