Passim presents Matt the Electrician

Despite the name, Matt the Electrician is no longer an electrician, focusing instead on a music career that has spanned the course of two decades, a dozen records, and literally thousands of shows. It’s folk music for a modern age, rooted in lyrics that focus on the realities and challenges of the 21st century as opposed to, say, the old-school thrill of hopping trains.
With his newest project, Matt gets by with a little help from his friends. Throughout 2015 and 2016, he’s focusing on a string of 7-inch vinyl singles. Every new release will focus on collaborations with different artists who’ve crossed Matt’s path over the years, including the bluegrass band Wood & Wire (who appear on the very first installment of the vinyl series), experimental solo musician Little Brave, and others. Rather than record an entire album’s worth of material, then carefully plot the album’s release for months, Matt the Electrician will release the 7-inch records as they’re finished, with each new release following its predecessor by three or four months. The goal? To get new music to his fans as quickly and creatively as possible. The icing on the cake? Matt gets to extend the collaborative spirit that’s been present in his music ever since his very first gig in Pacific Grove, CA, when he invited his high school classmates to join him onstage.
“The coffee shop paid me in tips, free coffee and a sandwich,” he remembers of that teenaged gig. “I had to fill three hours, and I only had two songs, so I invited all the friends I knew kids from the school orchestra, friends, other kids who had started writing songs and the show wound up being ‘Matt and Friends.’ That was 25 years ago and that’s what I’m still doing.”

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