Mrs. Glass

The Bayou Blues crooning of Mrs. Glass is so seasoned you have to see him live to believe he's actually a fairly young, fairly sober white guy [well, maybe not that sober]. Looks may be deceiving, but there's never a lack of tortured brilliance lurking beneath the tenuous surface of Mrs. Glass' brooding music. - Sonic Vault Austin

The Bayou Blues crooning of Mrs. Glass is so seasoned you have to see him live to believe he's actually a fairly young, fairly sober white guy [well, maybe not that sober]. Looks may be deceiving, but there's never a lack of tortured brilliance lurking beneath the tenuous surface of Mrs. Glass' brooding music. - Sonic Vault Austin

Two reasons to be bar-bound at midnight on a Tuesday: one’s alcoholism, the other’s Mrs. Glass. Witness the sharply dressed bluesman in his natural environment, a dimly lit honky-tonk with an easy vibe. Three guarantees: soul blazing, breath stinkin’ of liquor, and a little shit-talkin’ between songs. Hitting the strings with old-soul poise and the mic with deep moans, his local trio’s residency could well be an institution one day. This week, he shares the bill with clever country lyricist Ramsay Midwood and Americana songbird HaleyAnna Finlay.

– Kevin Curtin, The Austin Chronicle - Austin Chronicle

Two reasons to be bar-bound at midnight on a Tuesday: one’s alcoholism, the other’s Mrs. Glass. Witness the sharply dressed bluesman in his natural environment, a dimly lit honky-tonk with an easy vibe. Three guarantees: soul blazing, breath stinkin’ of liquor, and a little shit-talkin’ between songs. Hitting the strings with old-soul poise and the mic with deep moans, his local trio’s residency could well be an institution one day. This week, he shares the bill with clever country lyricist Ramsay Midwood and Americana songbird HaleyAnna Finlay.

– Kevin Curtin, The Austin Chronicle - Austin Chronicle

Initially, I’d assumed that Mrs. Glass was the name of this audacious Austin-based trio. Technically, it is. And it isn’t. The frontman of the band goes by the moniker “Mrs. Glass” as well, and he’s a dude. So…head turning back and forth in a bit of confusion…I suppose it’s both.

And that adds to the adventure. Who wants boring? Not me.

The story goes like this, in a nutshell: Mrs. Glass, originally from Iowa, hitchhiked to New Orleans when he was a teenager, but left after Hurricane Katrina to make his way to Austin. That’s where he met bassist Ivan Evangelista and drummer Ian Fry at the Hole In the Wall, in April last year. Legend has it that the three musicians jammed together even before they uttered a single word to each other. (It’s also been noted that apparently, they were thinking maybe they should’ve kept it that way, not speaking to one another, but…)

What we have here from Mrs. Glass is a rock ‘n’ soul blowout, a blaze of rock/pop dosed with shots of blues and loads of grit. Perfect for a venue like The White Horse, 500 Comal St. in East Austin, which happens to be where Mrs. Glass has a Tuesday night residency. Check them out tomorrow night, when they share the bill with The Peacemakers. Get there around 9 p.m. Good stuff. Recommended.

- Laurie Gallardo, KUTX FM - kut.org/KUTX FM

Initially, I’d assumed that Mrs. Glass was the name of this audacious Austin-based trio. Technically, it is. And it isn’t. The frontman of the band goes by the moniker “Mrs. Glass” as well, and he’s a dude. So…head turning back and forth in a bit of confusion…I suppose it’s both.

And that adds to the adventure. Who wants boring? Not me.

The story goes like this, in a nutshell: Mrs. Glass, originally from Iowa, hitchhiked to New Orleans when he was a teenager, but left after Hurricane Katrina to make his way to Austin. That’s where he met bassist Ivan Evangelista and drummer Ian Fry at the Hole In the Wall, in April last year. Legend has it that the three musicians jammed together even before they uttered a single word to each other. (It’s also been noted that apparently, they were thinking maybe they should’ve kept it that way, not speaking to one another, but…)

What we have here from Mrs. Glass is a rock ‘n’ soul blowout, a blaze of rock/pop dosed with shots of blues and loads of grit. Perfect for a venue like The White Horse, 500 Comal St. in East Austin, which happens to be where Mrs. Glass has a Tuesday night residency. Check them out tomorrow night, when they share the bill with The Peacemakers. Get there around 9 p.m. Good stuff. Recommended.

- Laurie Gallardo, KUTX FM - kut.org/KUTX FM

On the back of this eponymous disc, Mrs. Glass sits in a fine suit tipping back a tumbler of whiskey. A lit cigarette stuck in his guitar's headstock helps identify him to patrons of the White Horse and Blackheart, where the young bluesman holds court regularly. As proved by opener "Tut Duh Duh," with its filtered drums, supplementary piano, and multi-tracked guitar wails, this collection delivers something bigger than just his band's weekly gigs. Alternating bayou folk and bourbon blues, Glass (Jordan Webster) conjures up homesickness convincingly on "NOLA" before picking up the electric and hitting nerves with surgical slide skills and deep vocal moans on "Bye Bye Baby." Questionably, Glass goes full pop on the inescapably hooky "Once I'm Gone," then settles down into the mournful Delta blues of "Killing Me Now." After all that, the oneness of Mrs. Glass reveals itself when the trio takes a dark turn on the sinister jams of "I Give You Evil" and the tense, spoken-word confessional "Tenth Street." Even there, when the tone gets creepy, Glass' guitar work remains sweet as honey.

Kevin Curtin, The Austin Chronicle - Austin Chronicle

On the back of this eponymous disc, Mrs. Glass sits in a fine suit tipping back a tumbler of whiskey. A lit cigarette stuck in his guitar's headstock helps identify him to patrons of the White Horse and Blackheart, where the young bluesman holds court regularly. As proved by opener "Tut Duh Duh," with its filtered drums, supplementary piano, and multi-tracked guitar wails, this collection delivers something bigger than just his band's weekly gigs. Alternating bayou folk and bourbon blues, Glass (Jordan Webster) conjures up homesickness convincingly on "NOLA" before picking up the electric and hitting nerves with surgical slide skills and deep vocal moans on "Bye Bye Baby." Questionably, Glass goes full pop on the inescapably hooky "Once I'm Gone," then settles down into the mournful Delta blues of "Killing Me Now." After all that, the oneness of Mrs. Glass reveals itself when the trio takes a dark turn on the sinister jams of "I Give You Evil" and the tense, spoken-word confessional "Tenth Street." Even there, when the tone gets creepy, Glass' guitar work remains sweet as honey.

Kevin Curtin, The Austin Chronicle - Austin Chronicle