Phosphorescent and Rich Ruth

Before recording under the name Phosphorescent, Matthew Houck toured the world playing under the moniker Fillup Shack and released a limited pressing of the album 'Hipolit' in 2000 on his own album. Houck later changed his recording name to Phosphorescent, and went on to release a full length LP 'A Hundred Times or More' in 2003 and was released through local independent Athens label Warm Records. It was praised by critics for the ethereal and textured nature of tracks and the re-imagination of the country genre.

The critical acclaim grew following the release of 2005 album 'Aw Come Aw Wry' and 2007 'Pride'. The latter won an accolade from Stylus Magazine, who named it as the twelfth best album of 2007 on their prestigious list, it also received a rating of 8.0 from Pitchfork, a huge name in indie music review. In 2009, inspired by Willie Nelson's tribute album to Lefty Frizzell To Lefty From Willie, Houck crafted a tribute album to Nelson himself entitled, To Willie which was released through Dead Oceans.

The 2013 album 'Muchacho' was released also through Dead Oceans and is one of Houck's most successful album to date both commercially and critically. The album reached fifty-nine on the Billboard 200 and fifty-eight on the UK Albums Chart and was produced by Matthew himself. It features the tender single 'Song For Zula' which was hand picked to soundtrack the 2013 film 'The Spectacular Now' and the 2014 film 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2'. It currently holds a score of 85/100 from Metacritic who collate review scores from some of the most notable publications.