For all of the attention that the Red-Dirt rockers get here in Texas (not that I am complaining), the softer voices that employ their lyrical perspective and vision – not chugging rhythms and screaming solos – to do the heavy lifting are often times over-looked or perhaps ignored by the larger audiences that reside outside of the coffee house acoustic gigs and hill-country campfire festivals.

Houston’s Matt Harlan (Official / Myspace) has recently released a solid, pleasing folk-rock record that places him into the ranks of the latter-day troubadours that share his ability to locate drama in a scenario that would seem bland or dreary to the untrained, naked eye. Harlan’s debut offering, Tips & Compliments (Berkalin), is packed with stories that avoid both somber monotony as well as indulgent melodrama and instead follows a path that has been traveled recently by fellow Texans Owen Temple and Walt Wilkins and is dotted with tales of change, abuse and rediscovery. Harlan has some serious folk bona-fides here. He has won several noteworthy awards, and also has some talented friends helping out, most notably members of Robert Earl Keen’s band and even The Belleville Outfit.

Overall, Harlan’s debut is a shining example of how honesty, skill and heart can be heard just as loudly as the next rocking ode to Shiner Bock surely will be.

LISTEN: Matt Harlan – “Elizabethtown”

LISTEN: Matt Harlan – “Tips & Compliments”

Ragweed wants you to come and join the Round-Up!

Texas has many great festivals and events that have become yearly traditions for thousands of music lovers that want to burn under the sun while they arrive early and boogie into the night while catching their favorite dozen or so bands in one area.

With the 4th edition of Cross Canadian Ragweed’s Red Dirt Round-Up coming up this Sunday, it’s easy to see that this festival has become an almost mandatory mark on the yearly calendar of the Texas Music lover. What this event does better than other “Red Dirt oriented” shows is that it showcases artists that aren’t necessarily members of the “scene”, but that fans of the “scene” will likely really be into or will get into once they are introduced to them. Past years have seen Black Crowes, Gary Allan, Drive By Truckers, Son Volt, Black Stone Cherry, Reverend Horton Heat and even the Supersuckers play to crowds that might have originally been there to catch Randy Rogers, even though many of those bands are more well-known on a national level than many of the stars of the Lone Star State. This year, along with Ragweed, Rogers, Charlie Robison, Robert Earl Keen, Band of Heathens, Brandon Jenkins, and The Gourds, we have non-Texans Lucero, Jason Isbell and yes, The Wallflowers rocking the stages as well. It’s gonna be a fun day and I’ll be there for sure.

I plan on tweeting from the concert as the day progresses and until my phone battery runs out, so if you havent made the decision to follow me on Twitter, you better get on it! Also, you can go hear to get your tickets in advance (you will save yourself $10 by hooking yourself up early).