The Tallest Man on Earth at the Codfish Hollow Barn -- October 28.
Wednesday, October 28, 8 p.m.
Codfish Hollow Barn, 5013 288th Avenue, Maquoketa IA
Traveling the country in support of his October 9 release Just Beyond Endless Mountain, Swedish indie-folk singer/songwriter Kristian Matsson – better known by his recording and stage alias The Tallest Man on Earth – closes the 2026 season at Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn, the artist lauded by AllMusic for his “sometimes craggy, always passionate vocals and poetic lyrics.”
Beginning with the release of his self-titled solo debut in 2006, Matsson has delivered seven full-length albums and four EPs that he records and produces in his home, usually recording his voice and guitar together on one track. Just Beyond Endless Mountain is his eighth, and as stated at TheTallestManOnEarth.com: "For nearly 20 years, Swedish singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson has played his way around the world as The Tallest Man on Earth, carving out a singular place in contemporary folk music. His discography has long been heard through the lens of the American folk tradition. But Just Beyond Endless Mountain, out October 9th on Anti- Records, quietly turns that perspective on its head. After returning to his native Dalarna in central Sweden, Matsson found himself listening to the music he had spent years trying to leave behind: the polskas, the old field recordings and the sounds of the local traditions that had surrounded him since childhood. The result is not a return to the past, but a step into new musical territory. Swedish folk music has reshaped his melodies, his voice, and the way he writes songs.
"Dalarna is the place Swedes return to, again and again, to reconnect with their past, for better and for worse. This is where Kristian Matsson grew up during the 1980s and '90s, surrounded by fiddlers and folk dancers, timber cabins and flower-clad Midsummer poles. It was a culture you absorbed whether you wanted to or not. You learned the dances in school, the music too, and every national holiday was celebrated with folk musicians, traditional dress, and the folk games that had been passed down for generations. As if the landscape itself had internalized the nation's longing for some primordial refuge – a place to retreat whenever modernity had gone too far and, in the process, taken its own people hostage.
"Kristian, however, refused to be captured so easily. He started indie bands, hurled himself across the stage like Iggy Pop, and spent his winters snowboarding instead. Then Bob Dylan opened a window, and Matsson traced the music back to its source – to the scratchy field recordings Dylan himself had drawn from at the beginning of it all. Another tradition set Matsson free, though perhaps, in the end, it was the same tradition wearing different clothes.
"Matsson's father died in 2024 after several years living with Alzheimer's disease. In the months that followed, it was as if the memories of who he had once been slowly returned, after the long, exhausting years of confusion. 'The album started out in such a dark place,' Matsson explained. 'But my dad wouldn't have wanted me walking around feeling sorry for myself. He's always been the one who believed in me. I figured, okay, now I'm going to make something I really mean – for [my father’s] sake.'"
The Tallest Man on Earth performs his headlining engagement in Maquoketa on October 28 with an additional set by Gwenifer Raymond, admission to the 8 p.m. concert event is $40-45, and more information and tickets are available by visiting CodfishHollowBarnstormers.com.
