Matt Woods: Raw & Mind-Blowing

I actually came across Matt Woods one night in London, about a year ago. We were both playing at the Troubadour, a fantastic venue near Earl's Court. If you don't know about it, you should look it up or if you can, go down there and catch some fantastic live performances. I arrived at the venue about two hours before the gig, to soundcheck and saw Matt Woods arrive shortly after. He seemed quiet at the time, contrary to another artist, whose name I can't recall, who thought she was next best thing. I did a quick soundcheck and this other artist must have taken about 30 minutes to do hers. I stepped outside for a while and must have missed Matt's soundcheck so I had no idea what he sounded like.

A few friends showed up and the place started to fill up so I took a seat beside a good friend, and great photographer Jack Daniel (fantastic name right?), and watched the first artist, who I really don't remember unfortunately. Next up was Matt Woods, and obviously I was impressed, since I'm writing about him now, a year later. Not only was I impressed, I was scarred. For the first time ever in my gigging "career" I didn't want to follow. He had a loop pedal and his fingers played the guitar as if they were programmed to do so since birth. A raspy, unique voice emerged as he managed to coordinate his guitar playing with some sort of loop pedal wizardry. Needless to say, I was blown away and was lucky enough to tell him so that night. 

So, as per usual when I really like an artist, I looked him up. But, he was nowhere to be found. All I could find was one little video on youtube and his Facebook. A couple months later a couple videos started popping up on youtube. And a little after that his Facebook page began to collect itself. Next thing I knew he had a couple songs out and seemed to be taking over. I was and am incredibly happy that people are hearing his magnificent talent because it is something he truly cares about. He hasn't uploaded any videos to his youtube channel but he has collected videos that have been uploaded by others for you to see. This gave me the excuse to write about him as a "youtube artist", although he is an artist who I recommend seeing live if possible. Here's one of the originals he sang that night at the Troubadour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDR2RWdqgdo

It should be obvious now that he's a fantastic songwriter too. He's inspired by life, by everyday people and speaks a message with his music. I can say, he's a mysterious character, which gives his songs a sense of mystery too. I advise you to read his biography at http://mattwoodsofficial.com/ Try to figure that out. I personally prefer the metaphor, the mystery and the music to all the rest. So, here's another fantastic original by the massively talented Matt Woods.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3BcMFaWGxE

Once again, greatly crafted and perfectly raw. He doesn't need much to give him that fantastic sound. What I'm curious about is the process he went through to find that unique sound he has. Unlike other artists I've written about, I am not going to recommend any of his covers because his originals are so mind-blowing and pure. I should note however that when I saw him at the Troubadour he performed a nearly perfect cover of "Ain't No Sunshine" (Bill Withers). But for now, listen to his originals if you enjoyed the past two, check him out on Facebook, and download his free EP from his website. I hope to catch him live again when I return to London this Fall.

Alex Hamel