Matt Woosey’s annual birthday concert and BBQ
Matt Woosey’s annual birthday concert and BBQ. Friday August 12th 2016, Coach House, Malvern, Worcs.
Matt returns to his home town of Malvern from his current home in southern Germany for his third annual birthday concert and included in the ticket price is another fabulous BBQ from the wonderful Paisley Flour Catering company http://paisleyflourcatering.co.uk
Matt’s recent eighth studio album, Desiderata, captures the most daring and progressive music of his career. His acclaimed solo shows dart between folk, roots, ambient and electronica. He’s an artist who slips the creative straightjacket of the modern industry, a trailblazer with no reverse gear, a performer who drags the acoustic guitar kicking and screaming into fresh relevance. “You’ve got to keep progressing,” says the Malvern-based singer-songwriter. “Like John Martyn. Like Robert Plant. Like Radiohead…”
Yet all the best artists come with a backstory, and it’s fair to say that Desiderata could never have been made were it not for a formative early career that took in passion, hardship and redemption. “If I’d become an overnight success,” notes Matt, “I’d probably be addicted to some horrible drugs by now. It’s like anything. You have to do an apprenticeship. You have to grow.”
Personally and professionally, however, there’s no mistaking Matt’s upward trajectory in recent times. In 2014, his genre-hopping Wildest Dreams studio album was dubbed “a breath of fresh air” by Classic Rock, while his onstage prowess and booming live profile were thrillingly captured on the While The Cat’s Away release (recorded warts-and- all at Bristol’s Gallimaufry venue in 2014). Away from the spotlight, meanwhile, he has found equilibrium through marriage and fatherhood. “It was quite difficult to maintain the faith,”
he reflected in The Blues Magazine of harder times. “But I like looking back on that time, and realising how wonderful my life is now.”
To his growing fanbase – achieved despite his recent decision to opt out of social media – there was a palpable sense that Matt was building towards something truly special. So it proves with Desiderata. Issued through the RoBar label in March – and toured extensively throughout 2016 – it’s an
album whose spark and invention eclipses the tired offerings spat out by the rock mainstream. “It’s hard to say what it’s inspired by,” he says. “And I can’t really tell you what other bands it sounds like. It’s just Matt Woosey, really.”
With its title and initial inspiration borrowed from Max Ehrmann’s famous 1927 prose-poem, and Matt’s eloquent worldview set to music that includes piano, pedal-steel, upright bass and electronica, Desiderata is a one-off in a world where you’ve heard it all before – and a signpost to what this fascinating artist might do next. “When people come up after a gig and ask which CD to buy, I’ll
always recommend the newest one,” he concludes. “I have a real fear of repeating myself. My music has to be creative and artistic. It has to keep pushing things forward. I just want people to come with me on my journey, whatever changes I take. And this album is a bit special to me…”
