John Statz

For his 2010 album Ghost Towns, Denver songwriter and Wisconsin native John Statz took inspiration from the more discouraging sights witnessed while touring America and traveling through foreign locales, including Bosnia and Herzegovina and Hungary, documenting the universality of urban decay. Recorded with many Madison, Wis., musicians, including members of the alt-country group Blueheels, it's a hard-chugging roots-rock record in the tradition of Neil Young and Tom Petty.