Matt Woods - How to Survive (2016)

Tennessee crooner Matt Woods’s third studio album How to Survive adds another chapter to his salvation of the genre. While pop country sinks even deeper towards being trite, Woods continues to weave the fabric of roots and Americana while painting a Rockwellian portrait of modern, American country life. No cut puts this on display better than lead-off track, "The American Way." Woods does so much with so little both musically and lyrically. He fills the stage and plays a bountiful set even when it’s just him. Now he’s on tour with a full complement of musicians, many of whom contributed to making How to Survive arguably the hottest country record released in 2016. Lyrically, all Woods does is tell the story but there’s commentary that’s subtle and understated, but impossible to miss. ‘"The American Way" is an iconic anthem. Cut in the same cloth as his 2011 hit, "Company Town," the song has real potential to crack the mainstream market.

Woods continues the album with what he does best: heartache and blues. "How to Survive" reflects the maturity in Woods’s already sage-like voice. The album’s namesake says it all. When you’re young and full of optimism, you’re reaching for the stars. Once life starts to take it’s toll on you, your expectations become more realistic. Eventually, it becomes a game of how to survive. Prophetically, Woods has brought this to his latest release. Woods’s prophetic vision was in place years ago as is evidenced by the cut "Name to Drop," a song originally written in 2013 but added to the tracklist for How to Survive. The song reflects Woods’s powerful ability to convey emotion, songwriting maturity and is eerily anecdotal and prophetic as it takes the listener through the subject’s striking out to make a name for himself and at the same time reconcile with love lost. The subject bounces from New York City to Los Angeles and then on to Nashville, where Woods himself just moved this month.

“The songs I sing, well I never us your name /I’d really like to call you up ," Woods sings. "Before I get myself too down/We could carry on if I had something to say."

The album is studded with gems. "Bound to Lose" is Woods’s 2016 rambling road song. "Fireflies" is one of Woods’s love songs on the album, where again his maturity comes out, but none more than in "To Tell the Truth." Liz Sloan on fiddle and Todd Beene’s pedal steel help Woods saw right through your heartstrings.