Matt Andersen is a phenomenal performer. A man possessed of an almighty, soulful voice and some seriously impressive guitar chops. His career began around the turn of the century with the band Flat Top, but it’s over the last decade as a solo artist where he has really begun to make his mark.
Matt is an absolute knockout live with many performances captured online that have seen him rack up over 5 million views on You Tube. One of the standouts is his extraordinary take on the Bill Wither’s classic Ain’t No Sunshine. I defy anyone to watch it and not be blown away.
With a heavy touring schedule averaging around 200 gigs a year Matt continues to build on his global following. Over that time he’s toured and shared the stage with the best in the business, including Bo Diddley, Buddy Guy, Beth Hart, Greg Allman, Little Feat, Jonny Lang and many more. His accolades include taking out the 2010 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, a swag of Canadian gongs and picking up a European Blues Award in 2013.
His most recent album Honest Man is a superb collection of songs that range from the deeply personal like losing yourself in new love to challenging the political status quo of our times with the title track.
Matt toured over the 2016/17 Australian summer, including a number of gigs at the Mullumbimby Music Festival. Watching him perform the one thing I wasn’t prepared for was his fabulous sense of humour, a marvellous wit that had the audience in stitches. Matt Andersen has a commanding presence on stage, yet in person is surprisingly a very humble man.
In a way this was a lost podcast. The one that got away – almost. For some reason the audio became buried in a file that was stored in an obscure folder on my digital recorder that I only recently unearthed. Until that discovery I’d given up on getting this interview to air. I spoke to Matt backstage at Mullumbimby, where he also generously performed a couple of songs. The podcast opens with Honest Man where he breaks a string but then deftly improvises to finish the song and after restringing his guitar during the interview Matt finishes with the touching Quiet Company.
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