It only takes a single moment to forever alter a person’s destiny. Singer-songwriter Josh Halverson knows this better than most. After all, his entire life changed over the course of one song.

  Although he had played piano since the age of five, Josh had no plans to pursue a career in music until he was captivated by a Gavin DeGraw performance while attending college in New Mexico. Years later, Josh still clearly remembers the epiphany he experienced that night: “Gavin was so transparent onstage, as if he put his heart and soul on the table for the audience to see. I thought to myself, ‘This is what I’m supposed to do with my life.’” The day after the concert, Halverson began teaching himself the guitar and started writing his own songs. He subsequently left school to play music full time; his first solo record, an eight song LP, was released just a year after that life-changing concert. He also formed a “rock ‘n’ soul” band called Josh Halverson and The Feel Good Five, but soon found himselfdrawn to Americana music.

   Halverson’s new album, One Shot, builds upon his wide-rangingprevious musical experiences, coloring his rich, neo-folk soundwith shades of pop and R&B influences such as Marvin Gaye and Paul Simon. Recorded live to tape in producer Brian Douglas Phillips’ living room, One Shot has a warm, intimate sound that’s reminiscent of Jackson Browne, while Halverson’s boyish and earnest vocals recall Justin Townes Earle and Andrew Bird.

   Though still in his 20s, Halverson, who received Songwriter of the Year honors at the 2011 Native American Music Awards, isa perceptive and soulful writer with a maturity beyond his years;whether he’s wrestling with matters of the heart (“I Did It for You”), meditating on the struggles of everyday life (“Comfort Me”), or paying tribute to a beloved great-aunt on the sparse andspiritual “Miss Ruth,” his lyrics are vivid, piercing, andoccasionally heartbreaking, but a glimmer of hope shines even in his darkest moments. As he sings on the album closer, “A Heart to See You Through,” “I know we had our stormy weather, but we love each other still / So darlin’ won’t you please believe me when I tell you / That this heart is the heart to see you through.”

   The son of a cattle rancher and Sioux Indian, Halverson spent his youth moving around the Texas panhandle; now based in Austin, his music is as wide open and honest as an Amarillo sky.“I try to spread truth through my songs to help others transition through life and spread happiness to the people around them,” he explains. “May truth and love be revealed through my music always.”