MATT BURROWS INTO THE PBGB SHED

A couple of months ago, one of our favourite local combos, Guitarama performed at  the grooviest  music venue on the Far South Coast, The Cheeky Mango.     

A favourite combo at the best bar in town ?   We just had to be there !

During Guitarama’s  performance, one of the players stepped forward and played a couple of songs solo.  The young man in question was Matt Burrows, and Matt’s tender rendition of his own composition ‘Isolation’ really rang our bells.  Here was a young guitarist playing a hauntingly beautiful piece of music that he had written himself.  Hmmm........

So straight after the show Pete asked Guitarama maestro and PBGB  Family Member Dave Crowden,  whether he thought Matt might like to come over to The Shed and record his song. Dave was back in thirty seconds with a  cheery “yes please”.

And so it came to be.
Some background.............Guitarama was put together by Dave Crowden  in 2004. All the players are taught music by Dave. The line-up changes as the more senior members  finish school and move off to university or the big smoke, whatever, and younger students come in  to take their places. A revolving line up. This brilliant concept of Dave’s gives his students valuable experience in many facets of professional musicianship - working together as a combo, performing live, studio recording and so on.
We know how brilliantly Guitarama  works as a stairway for budding musicians.  Musicians who have travelled through  Guitarama on their musical journeys  include Kim Churchill and Daniel Champagne, both of whom have found great success on local, national and international stages.
Will Matt be next  ??
Dave’s passion for helping young musicians learn their trade and gain exposure really resonates with PBGB. We too strive to give local musos opportunities to play and record their music and to be heard.  So  we are delighted  Matt took up our offer of spending some time in The Shed.
As it happened, Dave decided to play bass behind Matt, and recruited fellow PBGB Family Member ( and fellow Figment ) Ken Vatcher, to sit behind the drum kit. Ken, as PBGB Blog readers well know, is also a passionate supporter of young talent.
The first song the lads recorded was  Isolation.  We hope you agree it is a beautiful piece that bodes very well for Matt as a songwriter. Very tasty indeed. Understated, lots of tension and a beautiful melody.
Matt, Ken and Dave then went on to record Ritual, another of Matt’s compositions.  
When that was in the can we had a good laugh, then we gave Matt a PBGB T Shirt and welcomed him to the PBGB Family.  Welcome Matt !
Nice work all ‘round guys, thanks.
All the recording and engineering comes courtesy of Raymond Toms – nice work RT ! 
The great black and white photos were shot by Matt’s Dad, Steve. Thank you  Steve, you captured the day really well.

Addendum :  Since Matt recorded his songs in The Shed, a couple of interesting things have happened. First, rumour has it Matt was at the 2013 Narooma Great Southern Blues Festival  watching a performance by Charlie A’Court .  Apparently one of Charlie’s stage tricks is to wander into the audience, pick someone he thinks looks like a guitarist, and give the chosen one his guitar and ask him to play a solo.  Matt was the chosen one, and by all accounts Matt wailed. Brought the house down !
Then ( coincidence ? )   another brilliant and generous supporter of local music, Tim Holt, invited Matt onto his ABC South East Radio show. So Matt went in, had a chat with Tim, and they played his new recording of Isolation.
It all seems to be happening Matt !  Well done mate.  Don’t leave it too long before coming back to The Shed.
You can read more about Matt here.
ABC article on Matt's unexpected performance at the Narooma Blues Festival - here's the link to a video of the performance itself!