My 2nd full-length album is a mix of folk, rock, and country in moods of magic, mischief, and melancholy.

www.josephhouckmusic.com

Congeries

A simple guitar and vocal recording of a new song "The Witch's Familiar"
Mixed by Jon Huxtable

The Witch's Familiar

Here's one from my forthcoming album "Congeries."  "The Mountain" features several talented artists who kindly lent a hand. 

Drums- Bryan Ciliberto
Piano- Martin Lucas
Pedal Steel- Matt Wilson
Backing Vocals- Anna Houck
Guitar, Bass, Organ, Vocals- Joseph Houck
Mixed by Jon Huxtable

Photo by Laura Rash


Lyrics:
Going up on the mountain
Don't know when I'll be back
All my old friends and lovers
They welcome me back
They welcome me back

And some say the New River
Is as old as the Nile
Like that name they give her
I hope to stay young awhile
Through the last brackish mile

Going up on the mountain
O'er the valleys and hills
Reaching out for new beauty
In the palms of old thrills
As it drains from the hills

Going up on the mountain
No, I ain't coming back
Leaving old cares behind me
Like a ramshackle shack
On a hill gray and black

The Mountain

Here's track 10 from my upcoming album "Congeries."

Joseph Houck- Vocals, Guitars, Organ, Piano
Anna Houck- Backing Vocals
Jeff Martin- Bass and Drums

Mixed and Mastered by Jon Huxtable

Dance Again

Good morning, friends! My new album "Congeries" goes live today! It's a mix of country, folk, and rock in moods of magic, mischief, and melancholy. It's available on CD and digital download at Bandcamp.com and other online locations. It's been years in the making, and I got to work with talented individuals to make it happen! Thank you all so much for supporting my music, and I hope enjoy this latest offering!

Visit my website to listen and buy:
http://www.josephhouckmusic.com

Here's track 5 "On That Hill"

Martin Lucas: piano
Joseph Houck: vocals, guitars, bass, organ

Mixed and Mastered by Jon Huxtable

Lyrics

Swathes of leaves on that well-worn path 
In their earthen gully graves 
The woods grow dim, the beasts come out 
From their hidden mountain caves 

His old plank shack in shadows black 
In sweat and pride was built 
Veiled in vines, the once straight lines 
Did sag and drag and tilt 

Chorus: 
The grass grows high 
And in the wind it sways 
And the sun beats down on that hill 

On that hill they call his grave: 

There’s a creek runs down, springs from the ground 
Not too far, where he would drink 
In the summer heat he’d soak his feet 
And rest awhile and think 

And he held the girl he called his wife 
They tilled and grew their crop 
And when the harvest finally came 
She was about to pop 

Chorus 

There he died at a ripe old age 
His son grown, his wife gone 
Next to her he was buried 
On that hill they both called home 

His shack--no room-- an empty tomb 
And the trail would disappear 
But the spring would flow, and it would know 
At last that he was here 

Chorus

On That Hill (featuring Marty Lucas)

Feathertop

And with these words 
I breathe the spark of being 
Upon my latest design 
Dressed so neat 
a pipe, a hat and feather, 
And a coat so fine 
And a coat so fine 

Wooden arms start to animate 
His pipe begins to glow a flame 
He feels hunger he can’t satiate 
He likes the fact he’s got a name 

The papers show our newborn star 
“Hay Man Sweeps the Countryside” 
He stumps in cornfields near and far 
With promises to change their lives 

One day a wind comes and blows right through him 
(His cares had long blown away) 
And left him feeling 
hollow, torn, and jumbled 
So he had nothing left to say 
Ah yes, he threw it all away 

Blind seers exposing the lies 
They hate to say they told you so 
“Couldn’t we see through the disguise?” 
“He’s nothing but a scare-crow!” 

In dried-up cornfields near and far 
Now the crows do as they please 
The papers show our fallen star, 
Riots burning effigies 

An instant heap of sticks and straw 
Has left a sense of innocence 
Perhaps more human than us all-- 
This paragon of emptiness 

The papers show our risen star 
Lit up on holy funeral pyre 
An elegy called “Straw Martyr” 
Is carved into his sepulchre 

And with these words 
I breathe the spark of being 
Upon my latest design 
Dressed so neat: 
a pipe, a hat and feather, 
And a coat so fine 
And a coat so fine


Lyrics loosely based on the Nathaniel Hawthorne story "Feathertop: A Moralized Legend."

Written and performed by Joseph Houck
Mixed and Mastered by Jon Huxtable
Photo by Laura Lee Rash

Song featured on my new album "Congeries" out now! 
Find it here: www.josephhouckmusic.com

Feathertop

Lyrics

Mad pranks and merry jests 
Mad pranks and merry jests 
I should have seen them coming 
They were just like all the rest 
Oh those mad pranks and merry jests 

Mistress toying with my heart 
Mistress toying with my heart 
The cat that maims the rabbit 
Cruelly waits to rip apart 
Mistress toying with my heart 

Mad pranks and merry jests 
Mad pranks and merry jests 
Your shoe’s untied, the sugar’s salt 
There’s something on your vest 
Oh those mad pranks and merry jests 

Mad pranks and merry jests 
Mad pranks and merry jests 
But the merriest of all 
Was when you said you loved me best 
Oh those mad pranks and merry jests


Credits

words of the title/refrain come from the name of a jest book called
"Robin Goodfellow, His Mad Pranks and Merry Jests"

Anna Houck- backing vocals 
Joseph Houck- vocals, guitars, organ 
Corinne Lucas- main harmony vocals 
Marty Lucas- piano 
Jeff Martin- bass 
Seth O'Bannion- drums

Mixed and Mastered by Jon Huxtable
Written by Joseph Houck

Recording this song was great fun! First, Jeff, Seth, and I tracked bass, drums, and guitar together in a garage in Boone. You can hear Seth's stick-counts keeping us in sync. The song gradually evolved in richness with high quality additions from Corinne (harmonies) and Marty (piano). Anna chimed in on the last chorus to help bring it home. 

Hear the full album at www.josephhouckmusic.com

Mad Pranks And Merry Jests

When will they show 
The moonlight's glow? 
When will they say 
The world's ok? 

Twinkle, twinkle 
How I wonder? 

Twinkle, twinkle 
How I wonder? 

How I wonder? 
How? 

When will they fall 
The curtain tall? 
When will we soar 
The heavens' floor? 

Twinkle, twinkle 
How I wonder? 

Twinkle, twinkle 
How I wonder? 

Twinkle, twinkle...

credits
from Congeries, released October 19, 2018 
Bryan Ciliberto- drums 
Joseph Houck- vocals, piano, guitars, organ 
Jeff Martin- bass
Mixed and Mastered by Jon Huxtable (smallfishrecordings)
Chorus alludes to "The Star" by Jane Taylor

Album in full at www.josephhouckmusic.com

The Harbinger

You took my hand 
And away we went 
Along the trail 
As the twilight hit 
In the wooded hills 
Where chaos sleeps 
And our souls are kept 
Where the love runs deep 

And your mildness is 
March’s dawning hold 
On a barbwire fence 
That is now turned old 
But it looks alright 
By the living stream 
Where the trees grow high 
Toward stars that gleam 

And all the Springs we’ll see 
On our ancient hill 
While your eyes they shine 
As they always will 
And you plant yourself 
Right next to me 
And the sun goes down 
Here we’ll always be 

You took my hand 
And away we went 
Along the trail 
As the twilight hit 
In the wooded hills 
Where chaos sleeps 
And our souls are kept 
Where the love runs deep

Track four from the album "Congeries"
Available at www.josephhouckmusic.com

Along The Trail

Here's track one from my latest album CONGERIES, featuring Jeff Martin on bass, drums, and backing vocals.

Mixed and mastered by Jon Huxtable (smallfishrecordings).

Lightning-bolts and Hurricanes 
(last verse includes words from “Barbara Allen” Trad. and 
Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” and "Romeo and Juliet") 

Little Darling, 
Who is it wears the ball and chain? 
Take these shackles from my neck 
That I might breathe again 

A storm is raging, 
The ceiling drips with rain 
But summer breaks through 
With lightning bolts and hurricanes 

Now, on the pastures, 
The prairies, and the plains 
Sunlight bathes the lowing cows 
And dries the window panes 

"It's one or the other," 
Old man leans upon his sugar cane 
He says, "Pour us another round 
Of lightning bolts and hurricanes" 

The green buds swellin' 
In the merry month of May 
Rough winds shake my darling, true 
But life teems from decay 

These violent delights 
Must end with violent pangs 
For summer breaks too 
With lightning bolts and hurricanes

www.josephhouckmusic.com

Lightning Bolts And Hurricanes

The last track on the album "Congeries."

Lyric video:
https://youtu.be/GbinZ3TVGi0


www.josephhouckmusic.com

The Shrine

Here's track 7 from the album "Congeries," featuring Marty Lucas on piano. 
Mixed and mastered by Jon Huxtable.

Lyrics:
Whispers 
The wind on the plains 
Restless 
The eternal remains 

They all will rise up at the omen 
Snow-covered kings, yearly frozen 
Sprung from the hills like new children 

From the stone-laden tombs long forgotten 
Clad in a cold fallen cotton, 
They’ll emerge to the fields that they fought in

Whispers with Marty Lucas

Singer songwriter from the mountains of North Carolina

New EP "Blue Ridge Mountain Waterfalls" out now (Sept. 18th, 2025)

www.josephhouckmusic.com