Bright Skyline
State Fair, 2024
9/10
A long running singer-songwriter, Matt The Cat Hillyer knows his way around a country fueled song you won’t soon forget, and the 11 here welcome honky tonk, outlaw ideas and western swing.
The breezy and fluid climate of “What Are You Doing Now” starts the listen with Hillyer’s warm voice alongside Heather Stalling’s glorious fiddle, and “Moving Away” follows with plenty of rural swagger thanks to Arjuna Contreras’ agile drumming and Kevin Smith’s well timed bass.
Closer to the middle, the dance floor rhythm of “If I Didn’t Have You” benefits much from Lloyd Maines’ strategic pedal steel, while the title track recruits rugged guitar and gets a bit psychedelic, where intimacy is also part of the formula.
Residing close to the end, the best tune, “If I Had Everything I Want”, showcases melodic singing, scrappy instrumentation and harmonic country rock, and “A Daily Fight” exits with fiddle acrobatics, vocal harmonies and a timelessness you can’t not admire.
Hillyer’s resume includes fronting the honky tonk heroes Eleven Hundred Springs for over two decades, and on his own he’s equally great, as evidenced by this fun and memorable effort.
Travels well with: Austin Gilliam- I’m Sorry, I’m Fine; JD Graham- A Pound Of Rust