Critic's Choice

Related Content

• Poets Row
  January 19, 2012
• Casey James Prestwood brings classic country back to life
  May 19, 2011
• Sarah Palin II: Bachmann Boogaloo
  July 7, 2011
• Petty crime: Michelle Bachmann plays "American Girl" after Tom Petty asks her not to
  June 30, 2011
• Mile High Music Festival, Day One: Manufactured Superstars, Snake Rattle Rattle Snake, Andrew Wickes, One Eskimo
  August 14, 2010

More About

• Denverite Gann Matthews
• Tom Petty
• Paul Westerberg
• Gram Parsons
• Beck (Musician)

Not too many 22-year-old indie kids cite Tom Petty as their creative catalyst. But after Denverite Gann Matthews was dragged by his dad to a Petty concert a decade ago, he learned a few chords on the guitar and started penning tunes of his own. One hundred and fifty songs later, he's still at it. The result is The Thin Line, his inaugural full-length, a rich and ragged sampling of some of Matthews's rootsier compositions. Eschewing the indie-rock slant of his earlier work, the CD's folky and hauntingly melodic songcraft recalls Gram Parsons, solo Paul Westerberg and Beck's One Foot in the Grave. With Line, Matthews makes his debut on the Satire Records imprint, a collective he's a part of with fellow traditionalist The Late Jack Redell. In keeping with that collaborative spirit, the usually solo Matthews will be accompanied by a full band that includes members of Born in the Flood this Thursday, September 30, at the hi-dive, in celebration of the disc's release. So stop by, lend an ear, and bear witness to a new, raw and honest young voice in town.