All right, this is my first post on mog! This place is rather exciting, so I might just kick off my shoes and rest my weary feet. I'm not going to do the boring shit like introducing myself or talking about my life, I'm going to throw the fucking veggies right off the plate and get down to the meat and potatoes. Here it is: Matt Jones in an excited rant review.

Matt Jones is an unsigned artist from Ypsilanti, Michigan; which is about 15-20 miles outside of Ann Arbor. He has yet to take off, so he's paying the bills by doing what any alcoholic that isn't playing music for a living does: painting houses. He also plays drums for a killer indie folk band, Misty Lyn and the Big Beautiful. In the time between Misty and painting he makes his own music, which I will be mainly focusing on in this post.

On his first five song EP, Right to Arms, he plays acoustic guitar and sings with no accompaniment. This album has a really stripped down feel, which suits his style very well. He has a unique voice, it reminds me of scrapple; you can't really explain it, you just have to try it (also it may cause uncontrolable vomiting in some people.). He couples his fatty-pork-product-like voice with interesting rhythms and picking styles on his acoustic guitar. This album, which has sold untold hundreds out of his trunk, is a must have for anyone who… Fuck that, for everyone.

Matt has been shopping himself around to labels since the release of the EP, he probably also painted some houses but nobody gives a shit about that either. He has ,however, recorded a full-length album titled The Black Path since the EP; the record is complete and he will be self-releasing it before the end of the year. The album features accompaniment from himself on drums, his girlfriend Carol Gray on violin, and Colette Alexander on cello. Jim Roll, who presumably also ads bass tracks, produces the album. All of the aforementioned people are also members of Misty Lyn. I promise this unknown artist will be huge, and you just remember who you heard it from!

All said, this is a very interesting time for Michigan's music scene. There seems to be an explosion of new folk bands based in and around Ann Arbor. With artists like Chris Bathgate, Misty Lyn, The Great Lakes Myth Society, and Frontier Ruckus (who will probably be my next review.), they seem to have the lock down on kick ass indie folk. Anyways, I'm tired and I should be dragging my ass to bed now, it's been real. I'll leave some Matt Jones related links after the love.

love,
tom

His MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/mattspainting

Matt on last.fm: http://www.last.fm/music/Matt+Jones

Here are a few videos that I was able to find on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hQBP5bLi4g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yI2KdQgwDM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VWDb5XdUfw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZflagP7Rkas

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

Currently listening to: Band of Horses - Cigarettes, Wedding Bands [Album: Cease to Begin]