# Phosphorescent (musician)

Phosphorescent is the stage name of American singer-songwriter Matthew Houck. Originally from Huntsville, Alabama, Houck began recording and performing under this nickname in 2001 in Athens, Georgia. He is currently based in Nashville, Tennessee.

## Overview

Before recording under the name Phosphorescent, Matthew Houck toured under the name Fillup Shack and self-released a limited pressing of the album Hipolit in 2000. Houck later changed his stage name to Phosphorescent and released the full-length LP A Hundred Times or More in 2003 through Athens, Georgia-based independent label Warm Records. The following year, he released the EP The Weight of Flight. Phosphorescent rose to wider critical acclaim after releasing Aw Come Aw Wry in August 2005 and Pride in October 2007. The latter was named the 12th best album of 2007 by Stylus Magazine and received an 8.0 rating from the online indie magazine Pitchfork. 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, released through Dead Oceans. Phosphorescent released Here's to Taking It Easy in 2010.
Muchacho, Phosphorescent's sixth studio album, was released in 2013 to critical acclaim. The full studio album C'est La Vie followed in 2018.
In January 2024, Phosphorescent announced his new album Revelator, to be released in April on Verve Records. For the first time, it features a song written by someone other than Houck - his partner and collaborator, Jo Schornikow.

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Year | Title | Label |
| 2003 | A Hundred Times or More | Warm |
| 2004 | The Weight of Flight EP | Warm |
| 2005 | Aw Come Aw Wry | Misra |
| 2007 | Pride | Dead Oceans |
| 2009 | To Willie | Dead Oceans |
| 2010 | Here's to Taking It Easy | Dead Oceans |
| 2013 | Muchacho | Dead Oceans |
| 2015 | Live at the Music Hall | Dead Oceans |
| 2018 | C'est La Vie | Dead Oceans |
| 2022 | The Full Moon Project | Calldown Music |
| 2024 | Revelator | Verve Records |

### Singles and other releases

| Year | Title | Label | Description |
| 2005 | "I Am a Full Grown Man (I Will Lay in the Grass All Day)" | The Great Pop Supplement | UK limited 7" release |
| 2010 | Live / Ghost Lights EP | Dead Oceans | Limited-press tour EP |
| 2021 | The BBC Sessions | Bandcamp | Digital Album |
| 2022 | Trying to get to Heaven | Trying to get to Heaven | Single |

### Compilation appearances

| Year | Compilation | Song |
| 2003 | Esopus Magazine Number 1 Public Domain | "Home on the Range" (trad.) |
| 2006 | Awful Bliss Records: Songs For Another Place | "One of My Turns" (Pink Floyd) |
| 2009 | Live at KEXP Vol.5 | "Wolves" (solo, live) |
| 2009 | Splice Today: The Old Lonesome Sound | "Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)"(Stephen Foster) |
| 2009 | St. Ives Records: It Happened Here | "South (Of America)" (live) |
| 2010 | MOJO Magazine: Let It Be – Revisited | "Across the Universe"(Beatles) |
| 2010 | More Townes Van Zandt by the Great Unknown | "Why She's Acting This Way"(Townes Van Zandt) |
| 2011 | MOJO Magazine: Harvest – Revisited | "Are You Ready for the Country?"(Neil Young) |
| 2011 | Margin Call Soundtrack | "Wolves" |
| 2014 | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Soundtrack | "Song For Zula" |
| 2016 | Day of the Dead Compilation | "Sugaree" (Grateful Dead) |
| 2019 | Matthias et Maxime by Xavier Dolan Soundtrack | "Song For Zula" |
| 2021 | Can't Get You Out of My Head - Part 6: Are We Pigeon? Are We Dancer? by Adam Curtis Soundtrack | "Song For Zula" |