HONKY TONK BEAST WANDERS A WASTED ROAD ALONG THE AMERICAN LOST HIGHWAY.

When Matty Charles returned to his hometown of Portland, Oregon it was not the triumphant victory he had imagined. Gone were the days of being a member of the New York City music scene. Gone were the opportunities he had worked so hard to establish. Gone was his wife and his record deal. In their place - a bed in a room in his estranged father’s small house and a reckoning with a fractured past.

Honky Tonk Beast, the debut album by the Jackson County Kills, is a road trip from a town called the Big Time through a hollowed out Americana landscape that depicts a loneliness worthy of Townes Van Zandt and a poetic storytelling reminiscent of Kris Kristofferson. Charles’ understated delivery and the excellent musicians in his band pull the listener close with songs that sway and swing and then land a resolute blow upon the unsuspecting emotions.

This album is the story of a restless soul in search of a dream big enough to overcome his sense of alienation. Smokey bar rooms, neon signs and country guitars are the backdrop for these tales of desperate measures taken by a person with few options. When he is confronted with the prospect of losing everything, he begins a journey down the long road to sanity. 

Matty Charles, singer & songwriter for the JCK, spent a tumultuous youth in the all ages clubs of Portland’s seedy downtown where he learned to play guitar and perform. The DIY culture of this environment instilled skepticism for the mainstream. This attitude was affirmed by the growing Anti-folk movement in New York and San Francisco and inspired Charles’ early Lo-fi recordings. 

Charles spent decades in both cities taking refuge in rough neighborhoods with people on the bottom rung of society. His songs come from the hard knocks that many artists emulate but it’s his lack of pretense that make Charles’ song-stories so powerful.

The Jackson County Kills are...

Matty Charles - lead vocals, acoustic & electric guitar

Brian Byrnes - backing vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar, piano and organ

Tom Armstrong - backing vocals, bass & baritone guitar

Kevin Major - drums & percussion

+ guest musicians: Katie Rose - backing vocals

Rusty Blake - pedal steel on Drinking to Remember

This album was recorded at Sage Arts in Arlington, WA by Jordan Cunningham and Fremont Recording in Portland, OR by Brud Giles.
Produced by Matty Charles for Belt Drive Record Club.

All songs by Matty Charles except
”Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels)” by Jim Croce and “Get Behind Me Satan and Push” by Ann Kiker & Doris Hamilton

Special thanks to Ed Littlefield for underwriting this album!