Reviews | March 2008 | Austin Lucas "Somebody Loves You"

I first heard Austin Lucas on the "Bristle Ridge" album which is a collaboration with Chuck Ragan that came out last year. That whole record is fantastic but I was completely blown away when "Sun Or Snow" came on for the first time. I mean damn! How the hell can someone sing like that? I still can't believe how amazing this guy sounds. Plus, he plays the guitar really fucking good.
As far as I know "Somebody Loves You" is Lucas' 6th release and I've barely heard half of the earlier stuff. But, compared to what I've heard before this album takes Lucas a huge leap forward in terms of songwriting. Rarely have I heard music this heartfelt and honest. Every single song on this album gets under my skin and I even got freakin' goose bumps the first time I heard "She Did". That particular track is one of the best songs I've heard in a long while and is, in my opinion, the absolute peak of this recording.
I'm a huge fan of the traditional folk singers/songwriters, old ones as well as younger talents and I listen to this kind of music a whole lot. I love what Chuck Ragan does and I really enjoy Tim Barry. But with Lucas it's something special. Hell, I would even put him in the same league as the late great Townes Van Zandt, Gillian Welch and my favorite Guy Clark. I honestly believe that "Somebody Loves You" will be my favorite record of 2009 and we're not even a quarter into the year yet. That's how brilliant this is.
If Austin Lucas' music doesn't give you the chills, something's wrong and you need to go see someone about it.