Maverick Music Magazine
(United Kingdom)
August 2006

Playgrounds Magazine
(Columbus, GA)
December 2004

Taiwan Oyster
(Online)
Fall 2001

Michael Jarrett Come On "Austin based troubadour wears his heart on his sleeve as he spins his plaintive tales from town to town" Maverick Music Magazine United Kingdom August 2006

I had not heard the name Michael Jarrett until his CD landed on my doormat recently. Originally from Georgia Jarrett was educated in south eastern Tennessee where he began writing and playing songs. Austin would seem to be his home base though for the past year or so he has taken on the mantle of the itinerant troubadour travelling and playing around Texas. The blurb describes Michael as a 'vivid new songwriter . with his poignant, poetical songs conjuring comparisons to Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark and Leonard Cohen.' The cover artwork says a lot about Michael's chosen profession and lifestyle; the young man clad in denim leans against his road weary blue pickup truck, on the back sleeve his clothes are strewn on a rock as he bathes in a brook. There's a Steinbeck quality to Michael's nomadic life; taking a little work here and there though ultimately following his muse. The music itself is lean, economical in its delivery. Jarrett's acoustic guitar, simply picked or strummed is at the centre of these tales. Occasionally he is aided and abetted by the supporting vocals of Kelly Short or Elizabeth Lodowski. Here and there these road songs are coloured by the mandolin and banjo picking of Charles McCurley and Cody Greathouse respectively. The opening Time To Go Home sets the tone for the weary traveller, missing a loved one; 'I remember you smiling in Austin, as I watch the Tennessee sky'. Then there is the more upbeat Mollie, a barefoot dancer who has all the boys waiting their chance 'just to hold her hand'. Simple snap-shots of everyday events with a keen eye for detail make Jarrett an entertaining, talented storyteller. Dead Man's Waltz with its western content is a strong number, while One Too Many Mornings (now there's a good title for a song) has a beautiful melody and lyrics that put the listener firmly into the setting: 'he's staring through the window, out across the street where the sun lifts the rain off the concrete like a veil.' The title song and Song For Sarah are also strong songs while Ballad Of The Ace Of Spades is the albums centre-piece worthy of Guy Clark. With its spoken narrative, western feel and wry observations; about the son unwittingly taking on the father's mantle; 'I grew up trying to be what he was not and not get shot in a barroom fight'. The CD concludes with Thinking Of You which neatly bookends the record with its familiar theme of loneliness. Michael Jarrett is slated for some British dates in September and on the evidence of this CD he is destined to become a Bob Harris Country favourite. --John Brindle

"Songwriter Michael Jarrett is one of the very best among a younger generation of southern storytellers to emerge on today's Texas music scene. His superb ability to weave humor and sadness into gritty songs about everyday life will remind audiences of John Prine. With an accoustical guitar and wistful vocals that give an added rich texture to his lyrics, Jarrett draws on his Georgia roots and Texas cultural influences to produce spellbinding songs that represent the very soul of the contemporary South."
---Gregg Andrews, Assistant Director, Institute of Texas Music History, Texas State University

"Vivid as Guy (Clark), as poignant as Townes (Van Zandt), Michael Jarrett's songs capture Texas Hill Country life like pieces of a movie."
---Matt Reilly, 107.1 KGSR Austin, Texas

"Michael has a way of putting the memory of feelings into words. When you listen to his songs, you remember how you feel about those things in your heart that are worth living for (things that you know are important but you can't always talk about). His songs are honest. You know he's talking about something that's important to him, something that's true... even if it never happened."
---Adam Carroll, Songwriter

"As you listen to Michael Jarrett something grabs you. He has a delivery style that leans more towards poet (speaking) than singer. Usually this is something that would bother me about a song. But not here. What grabs you is the lyrics and the sincerity of the songs. Lyrically he falls somewhere between the styles of Bob Dylan and Townes VanZandt. One simple guitar strumming for backup and lyrics that, like Dylan and Townes, use allusion and illusion. There is something in the water down there in Texas that makes great songwriters. Maybe it's the heat or maybe it's the boredom, but Michael is proof, they write great songs. [Love and Poetry] has a haunting quality that hasn't struck me in a song for a while. It hit's me something on the order of the first time I took a road trip and listened to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska album specifically "State Trooper". I will say that listening to Michael I feel as if we're standing at the foot of something big."
---Charlie Watson, Chicago Songwriter's Scene

"Michael Jarrett is a lyricist through and through. He has a way of combining small town Georgia wit with poetic mastery that results in songs that paint a picure for the listener. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Townes, Guy, and (John) Prine, Michael's songs are honest and personal. The kind you'll want to hear again... and again... and again. There is nothing fancy about Michael Jarrett. He is just a southern boy who writes great songs, and has a hell of alot of fun sharing them with you."
---Ben Edgerton, Shadetree New York Concert Series

"Wow. This guy's phenomenal. You haven't seen a crowd hang on a performer's every word until you've been to one of HIS shows."
---Jamie Blythe, Songwriter

"his songs are inspired with the spirit of Arlo Guthrie and Guy Clark."
---Laura Hensley, Brian/College Station Eagle, Texas