“Easy and Sad” is my debut solo release as Matty Kay Walker. More or less a country record, the project was born out of two key desires:
1) To enlist the tremendous artistry of one of my all-time guitar heroes, The Legendary Rich Gilbert, who plays exquisite pedal steel guitar (and a bit of Hammond B3 organ) on 3 of the 4 tracks here.
2) To return to an unfailingly fulfilling creative dialogue that has been happening off and on for 20 years and counting with Peterson Goodwyn, who produced, mixed, drummed, and sang back-up on the record, and without whose great effort and encouragement, this record would certainly not exist.
The pursuit of these twin desires has yielded yet another left turn in my 25 years of restless genre-roaming, leading me to play guitar and bass on record for the first time in 14 years and sing lead vocals on record for the first time in 20.
“Easy and Sad” is book-ended by two originals, starting with one that I wrote in 2022 and ending with one that I wrote in 2009. In the middle are my takes on a song by Frank Black (the artist who introduced me to The Legendary Rich Gilbert by way of his band, The Catholics, in the early 2000s) and a song popularized by Frank Sinatra (written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer).
The artwork was photographed and designed by my dad (a riff on Johnny Cash’s “American Recordings”). I’m standing in a field in Louisiana near my late grandparents’ home, my parents’ dog Boudreaux in a miraculously serene pose beside me, thanks to some expert wrangling from my mom, who is just off camera.
Other essential contributions: Kristen Jas Vietty added beautiful additional vocals on my two originals. Jesse Gimbel was a fantastic recording engineer, provided the studio, and supplied most of the instruments. Justin Perkins of Mystery Room Mastering, whom Peterson and I last worked together with in 2011, polished the songs with his expert mastering work. Jacob Becker, my esteemed partner in Ex-Official, offered invaluable mixing notes and generously agreed to have this rather anomalous project be released via our Ex-Official imprint.
credits
released July 7, 2023
All songs produced and mixed by Peterson Goodwyn, engineered by Jesse Gimbel, and mastered by Justin Perkins at Mystery Room Mastering.
Artwork photography and design by Dennis Walker.
1. “Contradictions.” Written by Matty Kay Walker. Vocals, bass, and piano by Matty Kay Walker. Pedal steel guitar by The Legendary Rich Gilbert. Drums by Peterson Goodywn. Additional vocals by Kristen Jas Vietty.
2. "Calistan." Written by Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV aka Frank Black. Vocals, bass, and guitar by Matty Kay Walker. Drums and additional vocals by Peterson Goodwyn.
3. "One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)." Written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. Vocals, bass, and guitar by Matty Kay Walker. Pedal steel guitar and Hammond B3 organ by The Legendary Rich Gilbert. Drums by Peterson Goodwyn.
4. "Sleeping Through Summer." Written by Matty Kay Walker. Vocals, bass, and keyboard by Matty Kay Walker. Pedal steel guitar by The Legendary Rich Gilbert. Drums by Peterson Goodwyn. Additional vocals by Kristen Jas Vietty.
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