This came out in 2005 — or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
There are a million kids out there with acoustic guitars trying to be the Next Big Thing. Virginia-born, Glasgow-raised Johnathan Rice is just one of them.
But on his debut full-length Trouble Is Real, he somehow manages to stand out from the pack. Maybe it’s his distinctive voice, a scratchy puff of smoke somewhere between Dave Matthews and Jeff Tweedy. Maybe it’s his songs, which brim with poetic lyrics, melodic hooks and singalong choruses that remind you of Ryan Adams at his poppiest. Or maybe it’s Mike Mogis’s production, which opens them up them with everything from grand strings to glitchy beatboxes to churning power chords and Beatles-esque tapestries. Whatever it is, it works to ensure that Trouble is real fine. And that it’s a disc that might help Rice move closer to finally being acknowleged as one in a million.
