Matt Green calls Lexington, Kentucky home after leaving Michigan twenty years ago. His debut EP, Perceptions of Time is released on all platforms on June 4, 2021. This five song EP features the Matt Green Band, comprised of Green on lead vocals and guitar, Joel Serdinis (fiddle and harmony vocals on ‘Left my Troubles’), Dennis Bender (bass), Ed Dougherty (dobro), and Josh Anglin (drums). Recorded at Sneak Attack Recording Studio in Lexington, KY, Perceptions of Time was engineered and mastered by Jason Groves. Additional musicians include Alicia Ferrere on harmony vocals on “Walkin’ Uphill,” “Borrowed Time” and “Was it a Dream” and David ‘Big Chill’ Napier (Driftwood Gypsy) is on harmony vocals on “Forgotten Soldier.” Sean McCormick and Chris Lucero currently split drumming responsibilities with the Matt Green Band but are not on the album.
Perceptions of Time opens with “Walkin Uphill,” a honky-tonk lament of life’s problems and pushing forward through them. “I’m walkin uphill, got no money, I’m broke…Just workin this life I got and trying to stay on top, I haven’t decided if it’s worth it or not.” Paints a picture of a daily struggle a lot of us are all to familiar with in life. “It ain’t no life, I’ve lost all I’ve got, got to keep on rolling, like it or not.” “Walkin Uphill” introduces us to Green who would have been equally at home being a contemporary of Jennings and Paycheck as he is in modern Americana.
“Forgotten Soldier” spins the story of Glen, a forgotten soldier from Vietnam who struggled more post war than he did during. “He got no medals, no awards, shunned when he got back home” As the son of a Vietnam Veteran, ‘Forgotten Soldier’ really hits home. “A forgotten soldier lost so long ago”, one of many young men who lived their lives haunted by things seen and deeds done. “Thrown to the dogs, the dogs of war, a forgotten soldier from a long-lost war… a forgotten soldier, lost long ago” Just one of thousands who spent a lifetime trying to adjust to the post war dream.
“Borrowed Time” brings Prine and Townes to mind both lyrically and in Green’s voice and phrasings. A truly haunting song, “Troubles on my heart and on my mind, nearly always all the time. I carry the stone through this world all alone, these troubles their all mine” “I’m living on borrowed time.” The more I listen to “Borrowed Time,” the more I could hear Prine or Townes singing this song. “So, I just take it a day at a time, cause I’m living on borrowed time” “Borrowed Time” is one of the slower, more soulful laments on the EP. Green definitely gets one thing right with this song’s poignant lyrics, “It has been a long hard ride through this maze that we call life.”
With “Was it a Dream,” Green definitely channels his inner John Prine. Prine’s influence upon Green is no more evident on the album than in “Was it a Dream.” The lyrics flow like some of Prine’s greater works, and Green’s vocal stylings on it brings Prine’s ghost to life beautifully. “Saw you in my dream last night, you ran away, took off in flight, I followed along until you fell out of sight. Every time I came across your trail, the obstacles prevent my prevail.” In conversations I have had with Green, Prine is mentioned as one of his heavier influences, you definitely hear that influence in “Was it a Dream.”
Closing out Perceptions of Time is the heaviest song on the EP, “Left My Troubles.” “Left My Troubles” is straight up one hundred percent honky-tonk. This is one of those songs that if you are listening to it on the road, you best have your cruise control set to avoid an unintended meeting with Johnny Law. This song will add pounds to your foot going down the road. “Left My Troubles” falls somewhere between Waylon and the Allman Brothers soundwise, closer to Waylon but not by much. Definitely my pick off the EP. “Sleepwalkin in this cocaine dream with the whisky by my side, anything to keep me sane, I’ve lost my damn mind” This one is pure unadulterated outlaw! “Every time I’ve left behind, it ain’t never once my fault. I’m not the guy who takes the blame, I’m not the guy who takes the fall.” Green makes no excuses for his faults in “Left My Troubles.”
Overall, Perceptions of Time is a gem of a debut album. It is available on all streaming platforms or direct from Matt Green at https://mattgreenmusicky.com June 4,2021.