Gordy Quist - Here Comes the Flood (2007)

As his singer-songwriter syndicate Band of Heathens continues to congeal, Gordy Quist further stakes his own claim with his second solo release. Quist's songcraft sets itself in a long line of Texas troubadours, kicking off the album with the Steve Earle-styled "Rehab Facility" before settling into the smoother folk of "Quarters and Dimes" and "Green and Blue" that recalls Slaid Cleaves' vivid narratives. The stark "Irene" even echoes, though not nearly approaches, Townes Van Zandt's wrenching "Kathleen," darkly treading lines like, "Sometimes I'd swear that she was just a dream, then I'd find her lipstick on a glass and smash it all away." Quist finds his most distinctive voice on bluesier numbers "Unsleeping Eye," "Paradise Awaiting," and finally Heathen favorite "Judas 'Scariot Blues," highlighting his growth over the past year while offering a glint of what this Austinite may craft in stepping beyond his influences.