Beaver Nelson Interview Andrew Dansby, Houston Chronicle, December 2007 As you may have gathered, Beaver Nelson doesn't write party anthems. Exciting Opportunity is his sixth album, and like its five predecessors, it's just as engaging as a set of lyrics to read as it is a set of songs to hear. As a writer, he obsesses like a neurotic type, but without wimpering inaction. He writes from a place of wonder and bluster. Read full interview. Beaver Nelson's Exciting Opportunity CD Review Richard Skanse, Texas Music Magazine, Summer 2007 "Everything feels different now/ Bright, shiny and new," sings Beaver Nelson on Exciting Opportunity's opening track, "Overnight Sensation." He's marveling at the way love only reveals its true glory long after the blush of initial attraction—an epiphany that handily sums up the rush of his sixth album in nine years. With a melodic and lyrical mettle reminiscent of a young Elvis Costello, Nelson has been one of the most distinctive voices on the Austin scene for well over a decade. But following 2004's densely poetic but uncharacteristically fussy Motion, the immediate, straight-ahead charm of Exciting Opportunity feels like a break in the clouds. Economy is the word here, with 10 of the catchiest and most profound tunes Nelson's ever penned packed into a lean and wiry 33 minutes and change. Beaver neophyte? Start here. Been onboard since his debut, The Last Hurrah. Don't be surprised if you fall in love all over again. Beaver Nelson's Exciting Opportunity CD Review By Gilbert Garcia, San Antonio Current, July 18 ...The result of all that thinking time is Exciting Opportunity, the Austin troubadour's latest collection of self-deprecating revelations and homespun philosophy. Nelson's voice is almost eerily similar to that of Michael Penn, and his easygoing, mid-tempo rockers recall a period in the early-to-mid-'90s when adult-alternative was not an insulting term, when people such as Penn and Freedy Johnston made mature, literate, carefully crafted music that was too darkly realistic to be accused of wimpiness. Read full review. Beaver Nelson's Exciting Opportunity: Interview Blog by Nick Zaino, The Optimistic Curmudgeon, Wednesday, July 4, 2007 ...His latest record, Beaver Nelson's Exciting Opportunity was just released on Freedom Records, his fourth for the label, which was resurrected in 2003. Written over ten weeks of isolation painting a house in rural Texas, the subject matters are clearly personal and introspective. He contemplates shifting ideas of utopia ("Perfect String"), self-image ("Bad Man"), and faith ("Humility") with earthy wit and a poet's eye. "If You Name A Thing It Dies" is at once simple and complicated, a lesson in Zen semantics and discovery. "That song is in halves," says Nelson in his album notes. "I state two completely opposite statements, and I believe them both to be true." The album also bears the stamp of longtime Nelson collaborator, guitarist and producer "Scrappy" Jud Newcomb. Read full interview. Beaver Nelson's Exciting Opportunity CD Review Rick Cornell, No Depression, #70 July 2007 ...In between, Nelson continues to do what's served him well on his other five albums: combines Texas troubadour songwriting chops with a pop/rock flair and then sells the whole deal with that warm handshake of a voice. Exhibit A is "Perfect String," which sounds like a Guy Clark 33 played at 45, while all remaining exhibits on this brisk and mostly compact 33-minute set have a line to kill for or a melody to die for, or both. "Do Not Appear Surprised, " which finds Nelson and the Scrappy Jud Newcomb-led band at their hooks-aplenty best, offers "The same air that pushed you in the door/Blew by my ear and whispered, 'More.'" Different context but, yes, more please. Let's hope the Beaver Nelson show is far from over. Read full review. Beaver Nelson's Exciting Opportunity CD Review Jeff McCord, Texas Monthly, June 2007 The backstory attached to Austin singer-songwriter Beaver Nelson used to be his fruitless early-nineties run through the major-label wringer. But now that he's released albums more or less consistently since 1998, the question is this: Why isn't the world beating a path to Nelson's door to record his songs? As evidenced by his latest effort, Exciting Opportunity (Freedom), Nelson's recordings are modest, craggy-voiced rootsrock affairs that don't aspire to MTV stardom; it's his songwriting that takes the leading role. If you want to venture into crowdpleasing, Texas-name-dropping territory, look elsewhere: These are works of depth and consequence, of life's mistakes and—as the ironic title suggests—lessons learned. Nelson’s work is ambitious, and though not everything succeeds, the wins far outnumber the losses. "Do Not Appear Surprised" and "Overnight Sensation" are both memorable love letters, one urgent, the other grateful. And there’s an unnamed longing running throughout. "Perfect String" grasps for sense from life, while "If You Name a Thing It Dies" knows the maturity it takes to let go: "If you take it in/And make it yours/It's not what it was anymore." Show Review: All Good Cafe, Dallas, TX, Friday, June 8, 2007 Square peg; big heart—Beaver Nelson connects emotionally By MATT WEITZ / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News, Sunday, June 10, 2007 Excerpts: "Having all that behind him didn't seem to keep him from completely inhabiting the stage during his satisfying two-set show." "Other tunes from the new album included the tongue-in-cheek "Lord of All That I Survey" and "Perfect String," and revealed perfectly the tone that Mr. Nelson conveys: a certain sense of being wounded (verging, perhaps, on pathos) alloyed with a sense of hope and even whimsy. "The injured "Experiments in Love" was perhaps one of the most succinct summations of post-kiss-off awareness ever put to music. For some, it might be the best song they ever wrote. For Beaver Nelson on Friday night, it was par for the course." Read full press release. Nick A. Zaino III, boston.com Friday, May 18, 2007 To get the full benefit of Beaver Nelson's songs, you have to listen to the words. A Texas singer-songwriter with rock 'n' roll spirit, Nelson is sly, silly, and profound, sometimes all at once. You may also view past press releases for Motion, Legends of the Super Heroes, Undisturbed, Little Brother and Last Hurrah.