Simon Flory Brings Texas Barn Dance to Life on ‘Man of Visions’ Album

Geography, or at least a sense of place, can help country songwriters find a new gear. That’s the case with Simon Flory and his new album Man of Visions. To record the LP, Flory, an Indiana native, decamped from his home base of Fort Worth, Texas, to the Panhandle town of Turkey, where he immersed himself in the dusty, desolate vibes of the burg.

That it’s also the hometown of Bob Wills, Western swing legend, didn’t hurt.

Last week, Flory released the barn-dance project Man of Visions, a 10-track album that mixes bluegrass with folk, Appalachia with Texas. On the single “Truth Ain’t Hard to Find,” which arrived on Halloween with a music video filmed in Turkey, Flory and his co-writer, Nashville singer-songwriter Zach Schmidt, try to make sense of a world diluted by misinformation. “When everyone is born into this world built on lies/if the truth is so concrete/why’s the truth so hard to find?” he sings.

Flory cut the entirety of Man of Visions in the Boot Shop, a historic retailer converted into a studio in Turkey, last year around this time with producer Adam Odor (Silverada). Vincent Neil Emerson also cowrote with Flory, turning in the brooding “Red Headed Step Child.”

In a statement, Flory describes the album as “a photo album of my music career.”

“It’s a blend of personal songs and co-writes from my perspective, but also cover songs and folk tunes that have shaped me as an artist,” he said. “The motivation came from years of live shows around Texas, so we recorded live. I wanted the listener to feel like they are in the room with us. I wanted every note to be intentional, so we set up in a circle to look and listen to each other.”