5 - Josh T Pearson : Last of the Country Gentlemen
Josh T Pearson spent many years in the wilderness following his part in Lift to Experience's 2001 record The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads, an epic psychedelic rock record. Pearson suddenly quit playing music, disappeared into a series of dead-end jobs, occasionally playing and famously appearing on the cover of the sadly-missed Loose Lips Sink Ships magazine. Along the way it's clear there's been some issues : broken relationships, mental anguish, substance abuse? But suddenly this year, Pearson returned with a new record, detailing intimately what's happened in his life for the past ten years.
A confessional country record, mostly captured live, it's filled with sadness that builds across lengthy and meandering acoustic guitar lines, occasionally accompanied by the swell of strings. The centrepiece of the album is the 13-minute 'Honeymoon's Great!Wish You Were Her', a song full of Pearson's despair and inner troubles, a plea to a woman he's hurt, a long cry begging for forgiveness. It's a magnificent testament to Pearson's talents as a song writer, and is nearly matched by other moments like the anger of 'Sweetheart I Ain't Your Christ' and the troubled self-help of 'Country Dumb'.
It's never an easy listen and isn't a record you'd put on for a chilled night in, hence the appearance at number five in this list. Live, I saw Pearson twice this year, his music interspersed with a series of jokes, he had the audience in the palm of his hand throughout, commanding silence before playing his music. If we need a Hank Williams or Johnny Cash figure for the 21st Century, it's Josh T Pearson. We can only hope there's not another long silence before we hear more new music from him. Last of the Country Gentlemen is a glorious record and an incredible emotional journey that demands your attention.
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