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<\/a>Mark Abrahams has been hanging around music for fifty years or more in Central Texas and has had some tunes stewing on the back of the stove, it seems, for a good portion of that time. He attended a songwriting workshop in 2015 with Walt Wilkins and Kevin Welch where things started to come together. He finally took them out for a spin during SWRFA in 2017. His lyrical perspective and rambling guitar style caught the attention of a number of artists at the event and before you knew it Mark was recording \u201cMatinee\u201d with Walt Wilkins.<\/p>\nWalt brought in Warren Hood on fiddle, Geoff Queen on pedal steel, Julie Carter on cello and Libby Koch to round it out on harmony vocals. They all pitch in to put a soundtrack to Mr. Abraham\u2019s gravelly voice telling stories from the rural recent history of Texas. Mark\u2019s guitar work is simple and true, tugging at the listener\u2019s sleeve to come on along.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>What really makes the songs on this disc stand out are the artist\u2019s imagery, every bit as vivid as a Grandma Moses painting from the opening song \u201cLost in the Light\u201d about Mark\u2019s grandparents, to the last track about that old country route to salvation, \u201cHeaven\u2019s Back Door\u201d. He brings out the images of a church social in the country town hall, complete with the bachelor preacher, on \u201cHenry\u2019s Violin\u201d. There is a code to live one\u2019s life by espoused in \u201cCenterline\u201d and a man\u2019s conscience depicted in \u201cMama\u2019s Eyes\u201d. You can smell fried chicken cooking in the kitchen on \u201cSimple Days in Texas\u201d. Mark uses the road allegory for life on \u201cWest Texas Blues\u201d. The songs flow one to the other in natural conversational patterns.<\/p>\n