ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE **** stars

Dead centre of this lo-fi but deftly organized mangle of zydeco, bluegrass and ragtime folk is Rob Halverson, a man from Austin Texas. Tom Waits and Frank Zappa haunt the mix, and gospel girl backups smooth the serrated edges of Halverson's swamp blues voice. Inventive,eccentric but dusted all over with sepia-toned authenticity.

Rolling Stone July 2001 ...(reviewing "Little Whirled of Sound")

THE AGE **** 1/2 stars

Austin singer-songwriter Rob Halverson breezed in and out of Melbourne last month, but blew away everyone at the Cornish Arms with his captivating blend of blues, jazz, country, bluegrass opera and ragtime. Like Beck's early material, Halverson's draws on his favorite roots music and moulds them into unique, lo-fi, eclectic pop songs, presenting them in a distinctive Texas songwriter package that recalls Lyle Lovett, Steve Young, Randy Newman and New Orleans performer Corey Harris. Highlights include the yearning tracks Ride the Moon, Light On You and Mastheads, which could have been outtakes from the Stones' Exile on Main Street. There's a lot going on here - strings, horns, theremin and accordion, as well as ``found'' instruments that add to the album's mystery, but Halverson's ear as a producer enables him to blend them beautifully, while still leaving plenty of space.

----Patrick Donovan, music editor, THE AGE Melbourne July 2001

Revolver Magazine **** (4 stars)

If you could imagine an eclectic mix of Daniel Lanois and Tom Waits bristling with zydeco, bluegrass, ragtime and the blues you would be getting somewhere close to the ballpark which apparently is located in Austin, Texas...Some of this stuff is weird in a very good way, contains a multitude of sounds, songs and performers and happily enjoys sitting on the fringe of contemporary music. This CD is 74 minutes long which represents extremely good value if you don't like doof, favour a chilled-out existence and have at sometime in your life lay in a field with a piece of grass between your teeth.

----Tweeky, Revolver Magazine, Sydney, Australia, March 2000



Listen-Pick

This Austin, TX singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has created an astonishingly engaging sound. His songwriting imparts a classic "Where have I heard that before?" feeling with its yearning, unmistakably southern blend of Soul, country and R&B, bringing to mind writers like Donnie Fritts and Steve Young. The band's whole sound is a real grabber, though. A wall of soulful backup singers ride a wave of very loose horns, electric and acoustic guitars, and vintage keyboards, supporting a singer whose cracked dusty voice intones evocatively off center lyrics.

Bertus Magazine (Holland)

One of the most striking albums of recent months: Lo-Fi, Steamy, languid, American and deeper than the Grand Canyon, this is a tense chain collision of references to Deus etc. With a bizarre mix of Blues, Folk, Gospel and Jazz, and untraceable influences ... rapidly making it into an inevitable cult status. And you heard it here first "You lucky Bastards".

----Bertus Magazine, Holland, March 2000



Drum Media Magazine

Now this guy is not your average "blues/roots/America/whatever" type of artist. I mean, he played the theremin on the latest album for a start. Rob Halverson is kind of closer to our Joe Henry end of the spectrum, only he's much more bent, sort of a Beefheart to Frank Zappa perhaps.

----Michael Smith, Drum Media Magazine, Sydney, Australia, Feb 2000


Revolver Magazine **** (4 stars)

This is a very weird CD. The bio warned me it would be weird... If Beck just went acoustic and aged a few more years then maybe he'd be playing stuff like this. Some of it sounds really old, like the kind of music I remember Bugs Bunny playing in the cartoons. The more I listen to this the more it's growing on me. I think I recommend this. Yes...go get it, Now.

----Craig New, Revolver Magazine, Sydney, Australia, Feb 2000


Live Shots (Robinson Ear Machine)

...Halverson is some manner of local, ultra-low profile musical mad-scientist, and when he brings his work out into the open, a celebration ensues. The music is a well-ordered jumble of all the traceable traits that make up the wonderful mutt called American music, ranging from smoky barroom blues delivered in growl to straight-up gospel songs to new twists on gypsy-flavored pop tunes and everything in between...

----Christopher Hess, Austin Chronicle