News

December 6, 2011

Matt has been nominated for 3 Maple Blues Awards !

Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist, and Acoustic Act !!

September 20, 2011

'Coal Mining Blues' has been officially released !!

You can purchase a physical cd or download the entire album in the shop, we also have limited stock on the new Matt and Mike Stevens cd ' Push Record'!

There is a nice piece in Exclaim today as well as a review and brief interview !

The tour starts tonight in Winnipeg !!

September 2, 2011

Matt's new video is online here !    It is for the first single from his album 'Fired up' !!

August 18, 2011

Matt's new album is called 'Coal Mining Blues'.

It's released in stores on September 20th, but we have it in stock and all orders ship immediately !!

You can also listen to the first single 'Fired Up' on the shop page !!

The tour dates are updated and there will certainly be more to come !!

Stay tuned !!

March 30, 2011

Busted Flat will be releasing Matt's new studio album !

Recorded this spring at Levon Helm's studio in NY State, this record is produced by Colin Linden and features such music luminaries as Amy Helm and Garth Hudson.

It's by far Matt's best work and we are thrilled to be bringing it to you in the early autumn !!

March 30, 2011

Matt has just finished another successful tour of the UK.

He's back home for a bit before heading to Toronto to share the stage with Buddy Guy at Massey Hall !!!

A poll has been started that allows fans to vote for Matt as the Fan's Choice for Entertainer of the Year at the ECMA's !

Head here to cast your vote !!

February 12, 2011

There is a great live videoclip of Matt performing at the Phoenix last year !  You can find it here !

February 9th, 2011

A campaign has started to have Matt open for U2 in Moncton in July !

Barbara Bovaird has started a Facebook group to promote the cause !!

You can sign up here !!

January 22, 2011

Matt Andersen has been nominated for 4 East Coast Music Awards !!

He is nominated for Blues Recording of the Year, DVD of the Year, Fan’s Choice Entertainer of the Year and Male Solo Recording of the Year.   
Congratulations Matt !! 

Matt also won Entertainer of the Year and Acoustic Act of the year at the 14th Annual Maple Blues Awards !!!

We will be announcing details of Matt's forthcoming studio album !

It was recorded at Levon Helm's studio with Colin Linden producing !!

More details to come !!

Bio

MATT ANDERSEN: Breaking Through, One Audience at a Time

The best performing songwriters, the ones who sound like they really mean what they’re singing about, tend to come from areas known for hard times and hard work. Like say, Perth-Andover, a rural blue-collar village in the Canadian Maritime province of New Brunswick—the home of acclaimed singer-songwriter and guitarist Matt Andersen.

“Perth-Andover’s a really small, family-oriented community,” says Matt. “Everybody knows everybody. My dad’s worked as a logger pretty much his whole life. But there’s always been music around: My grandfather played fiddle, my mom plays piano in church. Most of my cousins have had bands at some point. Whenever there’s a get-together there’s always about nine or ten fiddles or guitars in the room.”

Matt’s musical household got him interested playing early on and by junior high he was in the school band, first on tuba and later on trumpet. He took up guitar at 14, and before long was playing classic rock and Top 40 covers in pub bands while he studied studio engineering. Things changed dramatically, however, when he discovered the blues.

“Through Eric Clapton I got into B.B. King, which led me to the Chicago electric stuff and eventually back to the Mississippi Delta guys,” says the 30-year-old singer. “What really hit me most about the blues was its total honesty.”

Matt began to build his name on the Canadian circuit, his imposing voice and slashing slide guitar making a monolithic impression on audiences. He debuted with 2002’s One Size Never Fits, and followed with the likewise-warmly received Solo at Session (2004) and Live at Liberty House (2005).

After playing the prestigious 2004 East Coast Music Awards, Matt continued cultivating crowds, appearing with Randy Bachman, Bo Diddley, Little Feat, America, Loverboy, April Wine, and others. He signed with Busted Flat Records for a string of exalted albums: 2007’s Second Time Around, 2008’s Something in Between, and 2009’s Piggyback (a duo set with harmonica king Mike Stevens) and Live at the Phoenix Theatre.

By 2009 Matt had become a frequent guest on Stuart McLean’s CBC radio show “The Vinyl Café” and had completed his fourth tour of the UK, where The Times called him “Canada’s greatest guitarist.” In 2010 he became the first Canadian to win Memphis’s famed International Blues Challenge, which led to festival dates in France, Italy, and the US, where he toured with Old Crow Medicine Show.

Matt’s newest album, Coal Mining Blues, was produced by Colin Linden (who co-wrote and plays on several tunes) and recorded at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, New York. Featuring the Band keyboardist Garth Hudson and Olabelle singer Amy Helm, it’s a rich vein of new songs, many addressing the trying lives of working people: There’s the self-explanatory “Work Hard for the Luxury,” and the moving title track, which rings true in mining communities from Cape Breton to Sheffield and West Virginia. But not all of Coal Mining Blues is about hard work, as rollicking up-tempo cuts like “Lay it on the Line” and “Fired Up” bear out.

What is it Matt hopes audiences experience when they hear him? “I’m not trying to change anyone’s lives in a big way, but I love it when [listeners] really get involved in the music,” says Matt, performs over 200 shows a year and in 2011 won the Maple Blues Awards for Entertainer of the Year and Acoustic Act of the Year and was nominated for four East Coast Music Association awards. “That’s what really makes it a great night, for everyone.”

As Matt Andersen continues to do what he was born to do—play his exhilarating music—fans can look forward to many great nights, indeed.

Tour