The Tallest Man on Earth aka Kristian Mattson has been plagued throughout his career as being like Bob Dylan. Even here on this blog right now I am mentioning the Dylan connection, and frankly it’s hard not to. You would think it would be a good thing to be compared to a man who is easily the greatest contemporary folk singer and songwriter of all time, but overusage of the word Dylanesque to describe subpar folk artists has bogged down the term making it meaningless and almost an insult. With that said Mattson stands pretty well on his own (despite his height which would make less stable people top heavy). Both his two full lengths are filled with well written folk songs sung gracefully to a very well played acoustic guitar. Mattson has serious chops and it really shows. One of his most startling songs though has to be The Dreamer, a song from his most recent EP Sometimes the Blues are Just a Passing Bird. The track uses *gasp* an electric guitar which is a bit of a departure for Mattson, although it sounds mostly like it is an acoustic electric and the impact it has on the folksiness of the song is minimal. Overall it’s a good listen and a no brainer for folk fans.
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