Listening to "Same As I Ever Have Been" - recent proof of the Canadian Matt Patershuk - come to mind the voice and the ways of Porter Wagoner, one of the most significant heroes of the traditional country. Despite the many differences in terms of sound and approach, there is in common a certain taste for a melancholy narrative that never becomes drama, as well as a very personal writing ability. The similarity, perhaps a little risky, is however only one of the elements that will intrigue lovers of the genre, given that the merits of "Same As I Ever Have Been" - a document at once cohesive and complex - are so many. A wide and successful combination of styles echoes a particularly high instrumental skill, managed with a sense of measure by the Pretty Darn Good Music Band and by the exceptional talent of Steve Dawson (his slide guitar solo in the original "Sometimes You've Got to do Bad Things To Do Good" literally leaves you speechless). Obviously, however, in country music what really makes a difference is the proverbial handful of well-written songs, which are certainly not lacking here. At ease with the folk ballad (particularly beautiful "Memory And The First Law of Thermodynamics" and "Boreal") that with darker sounds, shuffled blues, and bewitching road-songs (worth mentioning "Gypsy"), Matt Patershuk has perhaps created a small masterpiece.