PRAISE FOR BLACKLAND
Lucky Boyd: Co-founder of mytexasmusic.com:
Matt Koger
"BLACKLAND"
©2006 Independently Released
Review by Lucky Boyd
"This album is all about storytelling and Matt Koger is one of the best. Songwriters who can take an observation and turn it into song are a treasure. Koger has found song in observations inspired by life, betrayal, religion, family, unproved speculation and current events. A stranger neither to the poignant nor the comedic, Koger uses his great storytelling voice to deliver each track much like an actor approaches a well-written script. Much of what defines Matt Koger is present in the disc. The instrumentation is successful at inserting mood into each of the album's 14 cuts. (15 with the hidden track) John Kent does an excellent job of capturing Koger's intensity and Jerry Tubb's mastering helps deliver another fine product. Refreshing is the fact that Koger opted for quality rather than commercial viability, leaving the disc without Nashville polish. Instead, songs like "Betty's Last Stand" becomes an anthem for those in Betty's shoes, and songs like "James" make people say, "I know that guy!" "Fort Worth Moon" has a clever slant on an old topic, and Koger duets with his young daughter on a song he wrote for her titled "Ally's Song." The title cut is worth the price of the album and Koger's talents are sure to be noticed for their sincerity and insight. No need to call 9-1-1, get the disc and you'll know why."
Bill Lavery: Owner Village Records
"This is another one of those cases where we get a disc in the mail and then try and contact the artist because we are so impressed. Koger like any good songwriter is from Texas. This is his first disc and we hope not his last. This one sounds like it was made by a true veteran and not a new artist. The songs are first rate and have that “lived in” feeling that only comes from experience and talent. Like any good songwriter he’s very adept at weighing in on the world around him and what makes it spin. We’ll be spinning this disc for a long time"
EURO-Review
http://www.altcountry.nl/recensiesnov06.html
Blackland (eigen beheer) van Matt Koger is een opmerkelijk debuut. Matt Koger is een huisarts uit Greenville, Texas, die puur voor zijn plezier muziek maakt. In 2001 kocht hij zijn eerste gitaar. Twee jaar geleden begon hij nummers te schrijven. Ongelooflijk, want Blackland is een album vol originele songs. Vijftien nummers in zeventig minuten maar liefst. In de verhalen die zich afspelen in het noordoosten van Texas beschrijft Koger de lotgevallen van opmerkelijke karakters. Betty steekt haar sigaret aan via het gasfornuis van haar eenkamer-appartement. Billy The Old Man (he ain’t Billy the kid no more) maakt zich niet meer druk. Als hij droomt is het in zwart-wit, net zoals de cowboyfilms van vroeger. De vierhonderd pond zware James kan nauwelijks lopen en rijdt daarom rond in een gehandicaptenwagentje, terwijl hij een ijsje eet in de regen. Ally’s Song is een slaapliedje voor en met Koger’s vals zingende dochtertje. Matter Of Pride gaat over de vrijdagavonden in een klein stadje die worden gevuld met American football. Een enkele keer is Matt Koger ietwat aan de sentimentele kant, maar hij kan zijn band ook laten rocken en doet met die aanpak nog het meest denken aan Nathan Hamilton. (John Gjaltema)
English
Blackland (own production) from Matt Koger is an extraordinary debut. Matt Koger, a general practitioner from Greenville, Texas, makes music just for fun. In 2001 he bought his first guitar. Two years ago he started writing his own songs. Remarkably all of the songs on Blackland are original. Fifteen songs in seventy minutes no less. In the stories, which take place in the northeast of Texas, Koger narrates the adventures of extraordinary characters. Betty lights her cigarette on the stove of her one-bedroom apartment. Billy the Old Man (he ain't Billy the kid no more) isn't too worried anymore. If he dreams, it is in black and white, just like the cowboy movies from the early days. The four hundred pound James can barely walk and rides around in a motorized handicapped vehicle, while eating ice-cream in the rain. Ally's Song is a lullaby made for and sung with his off-note little girl. Matter of Pride details the Friday nights in a small town during football season. Once and a while Matt Koger goes sentimental, but he can let his band rock and reminds us the most of Nathan Hamilton.
Translated from Dutch by Rik Hovinga
Another EURO Review:
Matt Koger / Blackland / Own Production (www.kogersongs.com)
A greenhorn from Texas, singer-songwriter Matt Kroger. Kroger is an M.D. in Greenville, TX, a small town just east of Dallas. Koger is married with four kids, the youngest a daughter of 8, Allyson. When you are in your forties, you risk slipping into a mid-life crisis if you're not enriching your existence with extra activities. Matt likes to go fishing, but also likes to write and sing songs since about five years ago (his first guitar and his first learned chords were in 2001). The results are available at 'CD-Baby' and are a pleasant surprise. Matt gives us 70 minutes on 15 of his own written (or penned) songs and they are well above mediocre quality. What he does is not new: he sounds mostly like a young Steve Earle, but also a little bit like Terry Allen, especially on his song Solitaire where the piano of John Kent and the voice of Matt provide a strong resemblance of Terry. His songs, written in the years 2004-2006, are stories out of daily lives in Texas from now and from the past. With his son Travis, he found the old, desolate, and forgotten cemetery (last funeral (burial?) was in 1916), which produced the songs Broken Stone and Blackland. In Blackland, Matt asks himself what happened back then (before 1916) to a man that in one week lost his wife and his 7-year-old son. It seems to me that those kinds of life questions are to be expected from a general practitioner. Together with his daughter Allyson, he recorded Ally's Song, a real lullaby. The next song, also dedicated to his daughter with the striking title Anyway, I Love You, narrates about the fleeting of time (they are out of the door before you know it). There are three songs that have their origins in the Bible and Billy The Old Man details the last years of the life of Billy the Kid. Matt Koger's Blackland is a great CD from a fine Texan greenhorn. I wouldn't mind him to be my doctor: one song with each consult and I'm sure to be healed for good. (FS)
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