Features

Summer Stars: Phosphorescent

Here is the latest of our “Summer Stars,” emerging acts featured in the 2011 Relix Festival Guide who will be making the rounds this summer…

In 2001, while living in Athens, Ga., singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Houck went in search of a working moniker. “It was just a solo project and I wanted to give it a name instead of calling it simply Matthew Houck. I was open to a lot of different titles in that time and I had the antennas out,” Houck explains.

After reading a phrase in a Jack Kerouac novel, he decided on the name Phosphorescent —a word that captures his evocative style of songwriting. The music—driven by a sparse, folk-laden Americana sound— provides an undercurrent for Houck’s soul-stirring vocal delivery. Onstage, a backing band of five musicians helps bring attention to the band’s live performances.

“The live shows have really become something special,” says Houck. “It’s not just endless jamming, but it’s opening up the songs to have room for different ways of doing them on the fly—interpretation but within a certain structure.” The group’s latest studio work Here’s to Taking It Easy was released last year, earning high praise from the indie and the jam scenes alike. This summer, Phosphorescent will take the next step, making its first appearances at major festivals across the country.

Appearing at: Bonnaroo, Primavera Sound and more.