Centro-matic singer/songwriter/guitarist Will Johnson may still trail behind Willie Nelson as the most prolific artist in Texas, but he’s off to a mighty impressive start for a guy who didn’t write his first song until he was in his mid-20s. Since then, Johnson has written and recorded at least one new album a year; if it’s not a new Centro-matic platter, like this year’s Fort Recovery, it’s one by his side project, South San Gabriel (essentially the full cast of Centro-matic, plus guests and a quieter vibe), or a straight-up Johnson solo record. And like Fort Recovery, they’re all invariably excellent — hence the accolades Johnson’s projects tend to receive from critics on both sides of the Atlantic and fans like Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and the Drive-By Truckers’ Patterson Hood. The latter even penned the bio for Centro-matic’s latest, proclaiming the decade-old, Denton, Texas-formed act “the best live band in America” and Fort Recovery as “my favorite album by my favorite band.” The rest of the band —as vital to Centro-matic’s muscular-yet-reflective, Crazy Horse-ish sound as Johnson’s songs — is drummer Matt Pence, bassist Mark Hedman and cellist/violinist Scott Danborn.
