Phosphorescent - Reasons to Quit (Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard)
In 1975 Willie Nelson recorded the album To Lefty From Willie, 10 songs in which Nelson pays homage to Lefty Frizell, reinterpreting his favorites from the Frizzell catalog and stamping them with his own unique voice, reshaping them into his own new classics.
Now Phosphorescent has done the same for Willie Nelson by bringing us To Willie. Here, Matthew Houck has selected 11 of his favorite Willie Nelson songs and does much more than just simply cover them. He has not selected the greatest hits, but rather digs deep, offering renditions of hidden Nelson gems and lost classics. The songs collected here seem cracked from Phosphorescent’s proprietary mold with Matthew Houck’s unmistakable voice leading the way. They feel lived in, they feel weathered and they feel just like Phosphorescent.
As the liner notes of Nelson’s To Lefty From Willie simply state: “This album is an unabashed musical love letter. From one towering talent to another.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
(from Dead Oceans’ one-sheet)
Wow. I can’t wait to hear the rest of this album. We saw Phosphorescent open for Bon Iver last year, and I’ve been hooked ever since.
