Your humble Austin Music Minute maven’s first introduction to Zoe Muth came a little late in the game. A CD was very graciously passed on to me out at Hole In the Wall one lively evening as The Austin Steamers were working up the crowd. It was a copy of the self-titled 2009 release Zoe Muth and The Lost High Rollers. Couldn’t resist the reference to Townes Van Zandt‘s “No Lonesome Tune.” And, as Muth shyly said some hellos, friends and acquaintances surrounding us were enthusiastically recommending that I check her music out. How right they were.
Critics have been singing endless praises of Muth’s unpretentious songwriting and delivery since her debut, and on her 2011 album Starlight Hotel and last year’s Old Gold. She’s originally from Seattle, but she can pen a honky tonk tune or a lonesome song wistfully pining for life on the road that sounds like it’s straight out of a Texas-born soul. Muth probably gets the question all the time: How can someone from Seattle write country music like that? The answer: It just comes naturally. And it’s also derived from a deep love for classic folk, rock, traditional country and the blues.
Zoe Muth returns to the Hole In the Wall, 2538 Guadalupe, for a performance tonight. Sharing the bill are Fog and Bone and The Hogan Sullivan Band. The music starts at 9 p.m. Recommended.
