Just as Sparklehorse was the late Mark Linkous and a rotating cast of players, Ghosts Ive Met is Sam Watts and whoevers in his orbit at the time. (Formerly in Ghosts Ive Mets orbit were my brother Joe and his significant other, Margaret White, who also toured with Sparklehorse.) Watts new album, From a Spark, sounds a lot like his previous recordings: mellow, twangy, and haunting. Lyrically, however, Spark finds Watts straying from his favorite subjects: drinking whiskey, hitting the road after a night spent drinking whiskey, and screwing up relationships by drinking too much whiskey. Watts recently got sober and penned a record dealing with weightier issues which was recorded in a motel room in Lind, a diminutive Eastern Washington town located roughly between nowhere and nowhere thats best known for a demolition derby involving combines instead of cars. Ghosts Ive Mets songs match these stark landscapes. Dont expect to smile a lot. MIKE SEELY
Thu., April 29, 7 p.m., 2010
