What’s On
This East Texan troubadour is making some of the finest, rawest country sounds of recent years. Uncut
Vincent Neil Emerson is a torchbearer of the Texas songwriter tradition. He channels the straightforward truth-telling and resonance of his song writing heroes in Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and Steve Earle into something fresh and distinctly his own. Where his 2019 debut Fried Chicken and Evil Women proved himself as one of the most reverent students of country and western musical traditions, his follow-up LP, the masterful Rodney Crowell-produced Vincent Neil Emerson, which is out via La Honda Records/Thirty Tigers, is a brave step forward that solidifies his place as one of music’s most compelling and emotionally clarifying storytellers. His songs are cathartic and bluntly honest, never mincing words or dancing around uncomfortable truths.
Raised in Van Zandt County in East Texas by a single mother of Choctaw-Apache descent, Emerson’s world changed when he first heard Townes Van Zandt’s music. To hear a guy from Fort Worth say those kinds of things and make those songs was pretty eye opening, the now 29-year-old songwriter says. I had never heard song writing like that before. He’s spent the better part of the past decade honing his song writing and performance chops playing bars, honky-tonks, and BBQs joint across the Fort Worth area. La Honda Records, the label he cofounded now includes a roster of Colter Wall, Local Honeys, and Riddy Arman, and is a snapshot of his growth as a songwriter and stage-tested charm with songs like Willie Nelson’s Wall and 25 and Wastin Time expertly combining humour and tragedy.
These marathon gigs and the undeniable songs on his debut introduced Emerson to Canadian songwriter Colter Wall, who quickly became a close friend and took him on tour. With Wall’s audience and sold-out theatre shows on runs with Charley Crockett, Turnpike Troubadours, and many others, Emerson found his niche. It took a guy from Canada bringing me on tour for people to actually start paying attention, says Emerson. Before that it was a grind like anything else just trying to make a living. Crockett is another staunch early supporter of Emerson’s and covered Fried Chicken highlight 7 Come 11 on his 2019 LP The Valley.
