Very Old Morris Makes the Case for the Bar in “Might As Well Get Drunk” — and It Is Airtight

Very Old Morris is the solo project of San Antonio singer-songwriter Jerid Reed Morris, and his new album, Boogedy Boogedy Boogedy Shoop, arrives October 2 with both boots planted firmly in ’90s country. Think Garth, George, and Alan, but with enough alt-country grit to keep things from getting too polished. Recorded at Jett Bass Studios in Windcrest, Texas, the record piles on pedal steel, fiddle, loud guitars, and even a few surprise mariachis. Morris is joined by members of Rose Windows (Sub Pop) while the tracklist takes a couple of unexpected turns with covers of Iron and Wine and Calexico’s “Sixteen, Maybe Less” and The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Thirty-Three,” the latter turned into a banjo-driven two-step before the mariachis come crashing in.

Third single “Might As Well Get Drunk” works from a pretty simple bit of barroom reasoning: they went to all the trouble of stocking the place, so somebody ought to drink it. Morris plays the joke straight enough that somewhere along the way it starts sounding less like an excuse and more like a perfectly reasonable life philosophy. By the time the chorus rolls around, you may even believe him. After all, the bottle ain’t gonna drink itself.

Very Old Morris holds a four-night NYC residency in September before the album drops in October. Full dates below.