On My Way to Houston

Finding a home on the Tompkins Square label seemed only logical for someone like Powell St. John, a veteran of folk, rock, and psychedelia of all stripes in the 1960s. It makes further sense that he and his backing band tip their hat to fellow Texan Roky Erickson with a cover of the latter's "Hardest Working Man" to kick off his 2009 bow on the label. There's no denying St. John's general passion, and if his voice sounds his age then all the more credit for him not pretending otherwise -- he's no young man and not trying to be, though he does capture an adolescent crush from his past with humor and wisdom on "I Loved the Way You Played the Piccolo."