This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Back in the ’80s, it seemed every third restaurant in Austin, Tex., that I visited had a signed picture of favourite son Stevie Ray Vaughan on the wall. Judging by his first album, 24-year-old Matt Powell’s mug might end up in more than a few cantinas and BBQ joints one day.
Like Stevie Ray, he has the flying, string-bending fingers and the funky, Jimi Hendrix-filtered flavour. What he’s got that sets him apart are the classical chops that allow him to fingerpick a decent rural blues or swing into a jazzy turn. With a few years’ more seasoning, he’ll be good and ready.
