“We’re all just living a little bit

And then dying a whole lot

Holding tight to whatever it is that we got”

- W. Matheny, “Heartless People”

Cloaked within the casual confines of a brass-buttoned jean jacket, spectacles steaming against the sweat creeping from his forehead, William Matheny is the quaint town Poet Laureate - that Seer with the Deets surrounding the Friday Night follies that transpire beyond the flashing yellow traffic light across from the local gas station. He’s lost between the strums of his guitar, habitually pushing the glasses back onto his nose between chords. The stage is his arena - at least for a short time - an elegant veracity of sound and word colliding before the crowd. Make no mistake, this is creative energy in full bloom: Matheny, the Maestro, in complete control. It’s Hemingway and Petty thumb-wrestling on a dirty summer road.

With his anticipated first release since 2017’s Strange Constellations, the West Virginia songsmith continues to squeeze inspiration from his Appalachian muse on That Grand, Old Feeling, providing a keen perspective that Matheny captures with an effortless eye, thanks mostly to the hellish confines brought on by the 2019 pandemic.

From the opener for these nine tracks, “Late Blooming Forever,” Matheny goes right to work with his lyrics, which tend to paint intricate scenes and moments with hauntingly accurate detail, pulling back the curtain on Matheny’s artistic journey.

“I’ve been a stranger on the highway

I’ve been a stranger on the floor

I’ve been a stranger in the heart of my lover

Knocking on my own front door”

Produced and engineered by Bud Carroll at Trackside Studio in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, Matheny’s sound and delivery certainly makes the Mothman blush with jealousy, backed by the likes of John R. Miller (Bass, Vocals), Adam Meisterhans (Guitar), Carroll (Guitar, Pedal Steel, Vocals), Clint Sutton (Drums), Jeremy Batten (Piano, Organ), and J. Tom Hnatow (Pedal Steel), there’s more than enough talent packed into the recording studio.

With two singles already set free for the starving ears - “Grand Old Feeling” and “Down at the Hotel Canfield” - there’s an undeniable sense of growth and confidence that sprawls from this album and elicits an undeniable magnetism to the lyrics - every vowel, every soft syllable. That, my dear friends, is a splendid gift from the foothill Gods and truck-stop sales rack, as well as a mind that can marry both realms. One listen, and Bill Matheny will quickly be at the top of your songwriter catalog for a very long, long time to come …

Find out more about William Matheny at the links below: