I have always had quite a simple view of music, in that in its purest form it is one person and an instrument and no studio trickery sorting out any issues, which is why I am such a fan of seeing bands in a live environment. Consequently, I am a massive lover of the series of albums coming out as ‘The Magnolia Sessions’. The concept is a very simple one, record an artist underneath a certain tree, and use microphones to also capture the ambient sound of the night. This means we get the sound of the insects, and on this recording even some distant gunshots. If that were not enough, the artist in question on this recording is none other than Matt Heckler, whose ‘After The Flood’ album I raved about when I came across it back in 2019.

This is a fully solo performance, with Matt sometimes accompanying himself on fiddle, guitar or banjo, and is more traditional bluegrass and dark country than some of what was on the album. Apparently, many of these are songs he normally busks with and would not normally think of recording, but they fitted this environment perfectly. Playing this on headphones makes me visualise that I am there in Nashville, with the sound of the night around me, and a traditional musician just capturing me with his music. When asked about this, Heckler said, “I’ve been wanting to do a live recording for a while now. But I always prefer being able to focus more on my playing while recording. This Magnolia Session captured the best of both worlds. Live takes, completely raw, and also the solitude needed to focus in on the instrumentation.”

For anyone who really enjoys traditional music, then if it were not for the quality of the production then this could have been a rare pre-war recording and is far removed from what many people these days think music should sound like. This is the real deal.

Rating: 9/10

Links:
https://www.mattheckler.com
https://anticorporatemusic.com