Most people who know me well know that I am a lover of, and a big believer in folk music. I would probably say that this love grew out of my fascination and blind faith for Bob Dylan. In a way, Bob Dylan had the impact on me that Woody Guthrie had on Bob Dylan himself. Only I will end up being much more well known, famous, and do much more with my life than Bob Dylan ever did. I guess I owe those thanks to Dylan. From Dylan I branched out to other old folk artists like Neil Young. Contrary to popular belief, folk music is far from dead. From these front runners of folk music have come some very talented, poetic, and extremely important artists. One of these being The Tallest Man On Earth. Folk music has evolved, changed, and adapted to the new generations, but the heart of the folk music still remains the same.
Born Kristian Matsson, The Tallest Man On Earth is a 27 year old singer/songwriter from Sweden. He tours in Europe a lot, but finds a large, loyal, and supportive following within the "Indie" crowd in the United States. Matsson is a very unique artist who also found his love for folk music in Bob Dylan's music. Even at first glance, it is not hard to guess who Matsson idolizes. He looks almost too much like Bob Dylan of 1964. From his boots, to his shirts, to his hair that is a little too tall in the front, he has Dylan written all over him. The only two physical differences that jump out right away are his mustache which looks like he stole it from a child molester, and the fact that he his astonishingly short, which is where he got his clever, catchy, and ironic stage name. Matsson has put out 2 LPs and 2 EPs. His first was a self titled EP in 2006, then his first LP "Shallow Grave" in 2008, his second LP "The Wild Hunt" in 2010, and just recently releasaed a second EP titled "Sometimes the Blues is Just A Passing Bird."
Even with all of these Dylan similarities, Matsson has a great deal of uniqueness about himself, and it is my belief that these differences come from the differences in time periods. It is clear that Matsson, along with most folk singers (including Dylan) attempts to erase the time barriers in order to be a somewhat timeless artists. This is one sign of a great artist. He has nothing modern about him, and it is almost as if this is intentional. By doing this it allows himself to sing and write about any subject, and for it to be believable. Matsson combines his scratchy and eerie, yet beautiful Dylan-esque voice to sing extremely beautiful and poetic lyrics over his very talented and unique finger picking styles. If I must sin, and say what Matsson does have over Dylan, it is the fact that he is a much better guitarist. Dylan's best guitar song is "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" and this song would not even make the B side of Matsson's best guitar tracks. The Tallest Man on Earth has quickly become one of my favorite artists of today, and I actually had the pleasure of seeing him in concert and meeting him in Birmingham earlier this year. His stage personna is delightful. He paces around the stage while singing, constantly making eye contact with his audience, implying how passionate he is about his lyrics. He was very friendly, signed a vinyl, shook my hand, and listened to his fans, staying long after the show was over. A great person, and a great musician.
