Roots music aficionados might recognize Mario Matteoli from his role as the guitarist and singer in the high-energy Austin, Texas band the Weary Boys, where he’s one of the main songwriters behind their signature rocking honky-tonk style. He has long been working on his own material as a solo songwriter and performer in and around Austin, and his solo style is showcased in his new independent release Hard Luck Hittin’. It takes some substantial leaps away from the Weary Boys’ typical punk-rock string band format and toward keyboard-driven melodies, deeply strummed acoustic guitar and some beautiful lyrical passages that bring to mind Townes Van Zandt more than Del McCoury.

Songwriting influences Neil Young, Jeff Tweedy and Bob Dylan are evident in this collection, but rather than falling into the sea of carbon-copy Austin songwriters Matteoli’s forms his songs in a way that creates a very distinctive voice. For “Hope in Nothing,” Maeteolli uses a well-crafted yet simple tune to let out some of his agony over our elected leaders, stating, “I don’t mix in politics because I don’t like stepping in dog shit.” On “Happy Birthday from Wyoming,” he enlists the help of some solid background vocals and great piano and guitar accompaniment to set up a song that slowly, dynamically builds into a full-fledged head-nod inducing anthem.

Though most of the 10 tracks are down, dark tunes, the album is surprisingly easy to get into because of the great cast of musicians and Matteoli’s songwriting.