J Wagner - The Runaway Kid (2014)

J. Wagner writes songs like the novel you long for after the last page is turned. Wagner's self-released sophomore album, The Runaway Kid, proves he's not just whittling words. He's become a commander of ideation. Wagner grew up in Albuquerque, went to college in Denton, worked as a park ranger in Joshua Tree National Park, and now calls Austin home, a headquarters from which he's become a mainstay of the Kerrville Folk Festival community, where he met writing partner Gregory Alan Isakov. It's the latter's version of their mutual "If I Go, I'm Goin'" that made it onto Californication. The Runaway Kid features two Isakov co-writes alongside Ron Scott, which double as the hits of the album, "Houston" and "Suitcase Full of Sparks." Soon you'll be humming to the former: "Maybe the highway took all my last chances/ Maybe the high water was just another one to blame/ That hot summer sidewalk hardens all my good intentions/ Did the heart grow hungry when all there was was concrete." Wagner's minimalist approach is a relief, new like spring after a long, hard winter, sublime as the summer sun rising and setting on your front porch.