Colter Wall at Irving Plaza

In Swift Current, Canada, a 13-year-old Colter Wall learned to play guitar by copying hard rock guitarists. He then gravitated to old blues and folk music. In his mid-teens, he heard Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" and was inspired to start writing and singing in addition to playing guitar. Blending blues, folk and Americana, Wall recorded demos of his songs, and in 2015 he took a leave from his university studies to build a music career from the release of a seven-song EP, Imaginary Appalachia. His songs were featured in the television show Dog the Bounty Hunter, and in the films Hell or High Water and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The track used in the films, "Sleeping on the Blacktop," gained more than a million streams on Spotify. His debut full-length album was released in 2017, and according to Wall, most of the songs on the self-titled album were autobiographical. Wall's second and most recent album, Songs of the Plains, was released on October 12, 2018.

At age 23, Colter Wall has come a long way since his musical journey began just 10 years ago. He headlined at Irving Plaza tonight, and the maturity of this raconteur's lyrics and the profundity of this troubadour's music belied his youth. Even his long grizzly beard and weathered appearance gave the impression of deep-rooted experience. Wall started with three songs performed solo, and then played with four backing musicians. His set was not simply country, blues or Americana; the performance resonated as downright cowboy, sung by a young man with a husky, rain barrel-deep baritone. Harmonica, pedal steel and slide guitar frequently led the songs and added to the authenticity of the old-timey western vibe. One can imagine that the plainsmen who settled in North America's frontiers in the late 19th century played and heard very similar music. Throughout the performance, the dynamics were subtle rather than flashy, and the background images of the plains of Saskatchewan added to the homey, earthy atmosphere. How this unique style of music was unearthed and mastered by a millennial may remain a mystery.

Visit Colter Wall at www.colterwall.com.