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Tuesday, March 11th
Industry Showcase and Tempe Music Fest!
I have some big news to report, but first off, thanks to all that helped to make my last show at Hotel Café such a huge success. It was our biggest turnout yet. We hope to surpass those numbers next week when we play another show here in LA at an amazing and intimate venue called Genghis Cohen. This is by far the BIGGEST, most HUMUNGOUS show I will have played since moving to LA on January 7th, 2005. It is by no means the largest venue I have ever played, but in many ways, it is the most important show of my life to this point. I will be showcasing my music for the William Morris Agency, as well as CAA, and ICM. These agencies handle everyone from BB. King and Billy Idol, to Prince and Sheryl Crow. It is a big opportunity for me and I really need your support. Remember all those times you told me I was going to “go all the way?” Well, now is your chance to help me make that a reality. Don’t worry; I have already done the groundwork. All you have to do is show up! I am going to sing my balls off, and I want you to be there! The performance date is WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19th @ 9:30 pm. More details below in the tour dates section. In other news, I was recently written up in Pollstar. If you are not familiar with Pollstar, it is the leading industry insider trade magazine for the music business. Pretty much every talent buyer, manager, booking agent, publicist, etc. reads this magazine, and I was recently featured as an emerging artist. To top things off, I was just added to the Tempe Music Festival (main stage) lineup along side my friends from the Gin Blossoms, Fergie (Black Eyed Peas), Cowboy Mouth, and the Meat Puppets. This is huge for me considering all the hard work I have put into the Tempe music scene this past year. Thanks so much to all my friends in Arizona for helping to make this possible, especially Scott Kusmirek from the Gin Blossoms and my friend Mandi Wimmer, who took a chance on me at the Super Bowl Host Committee Party, and ultimately got me booked at this event. More exciting news coming soon…
Friday, March 7th
Spring 2008
Big shows coming up...stay tuned!
Monday, January 7th
Mark Your Calendars!
The last time I played Hotel Café I made a big hoopla about it being a label showcase. Well, thanks to everyone that came out, I am on to round two! This time I need your support more than ever. The performance date is Monday, January 14th @ 7pm. I will be playing with Scott Kusmirek (Gin Blossoms) on drums and Chevy (Psychodelic Zombiez) on bass. So, make sure you mark your calendars and book your flights as soon as you read this. Send reminders to all of your email addresses, your weekend cell phone, and your weekday cell phone too! Tell all your friends! Without your support I would not be where I am today. In fact, 2008 is shaping up pretty nicely already! I recently secured a sponsorship with automotive giant, Hyundai, and plan on doing extensive promotions in conjunction with the release of my new record, “Postcards From Paradise”, which will be coming out this spring (you can take an advance listen here-http://www.myspace.com/matthewmoon). To show their confidence, I am being presented with a Limited Edition 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe this coming Wednesday at their corporate offices in Fountain Valley, CA. Much thanks to Scott Kusmirek of the Gin Blossoms for introducing my music to Hyundai. Scott and I will be driving the new SUV to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT later this month. One more thing, thank you so much to all friends and fans that came out to support at Temple Event Center in Denver on New Year’s Eve. Thanks to Pathways Church for putting on an incredible event as well.
Many Blessings,
Matthew
Friday, August 31st
Mongolia!
I recently spent three weeks in MONGOLIA. Thatís right MONGOLIA. Say it! Nobody ever believes me when I tell them, and maybe thatís why I decided to go. Who would ever think of going to MONGOLIA? I sure wouldnít have, but I knew it was time to put my life back in perspective and give a little bit back. I arrived in Ulaanbaatar on August 2nd and met my team members. I was there to do a Habitat For Humanity build for two weeks. After meeting everyone, we boarded a train for a 12-hour, overnight trip to Erdenet. This was the city we would be spending the next 10 days in. It looked like you might imagine Sarajevo looking 10 years after the war; very dilapidated, graffiti everywhere, and big mountains wrapping around it like a blanket meant to protect it from the minus 30 degree winters. We stayed in a hotel on the outskirts of town, just beyond the horse farm, where horses are bred to be served at your favorite local dining establishment. However, mutton was the delicacy. On the first day of work we awoke at 7am, had a light breakfast, and loaded into the vans. All 16 of us were looking forward to hitting a nail after hours of travel and anticipation. The thing about a Habitat build (this being my 2nd), is that if you are not fast enough, you will be stuck holding your #$%& in your hand while everyone else is pounding away. Luckily, this team raised more money for supplies than any other team in years ($29,000). Thanks to everyone out there that made a contribution on my behalf! Once the building started, we all got in a groove (no pun intended!) and began the routine of waking up early, working late, and sleeping hard. One of the great things about Habitat, is that there is an opportunity to interact with the locals on a different level than if I were backpacking through with my buddies. These are people that I am sweating next to everyday, eating with at lunchtime, and attempting to communicate with however I can. The language comes if you want to learn. The icing on the cake is the children. I canít explain other than to say each one of them breaks my heart. They are precious. Beautiful. And they LOVE to play patty cake! My hands were sooo tired!! I never thought anything could top the India trip a took with HFH in 2005, but this was just as good, if not better. If any of you are interested in exploring these opportunities, you can find out more at (http://www.habitat.org)
Tuesday, February 6th
Oh What A Night!
It was a star-studded event, a benefit to help aid my friend Wally Ingram in his battle against Squamous Cell Carcinoma, a rare form of cancer. I first met Wally about five years ago while he was on tour with musical guru David Lindley. They were doing a three-night stint with Widespread Panic in Larkspur, Colorado, and happened to have a break in their schedule. My friend Matt Need brought Wally to my performance that night in Denver and he ended up sitting in on a version of the Neil Young classic, “Down By The River”. I never imagined that it would lead to an EP, a tour, and the culmination of which I am about to tell you about. I arrived at the Alex Theater in Glendale, California around 8pm. Jackson Browne had just taken the stage and was performing his song, “My Stunning Mystery Companion”, which he dedicated to his girlfriend of ten years and also to Laurie Ingram, Wally’s wife and biggest supporter though his ordeal. Shortly thereafter, Jackson invited old friend and cohort Bonnie Rait up to sing along with blues aficionado extraordinaire, Keb’ Mo’. Not to loose sight, Wally was grooving right along with his djembe drum and brushes, and the occasional front desk dinger. Then it was Bonnie’s turn, and she played the nastiest slide dobro guitar to the arrangement of the Gary Nicholson song, “Shadow of a Doubt”. After the set break, I decided to try and sneak backstage. This is not something I would normally do, but I didn’t want to bother Wally for passes, and security was loose. Luckily, I began bumping into all kinds of friends and eventually found myself in a conversation with Victoria Williams and Eric McFadden, whom I toured with in 2005 during Wally and Eric’s release of the album, Alektrophobia (fear of chickens). I gradually made my way back upstairs to the side of the stage just as Neil Finn from Crowded House was discussing chord changes with a band mate in the wings. Always a gentleman, Wally introduced the two of us and then Crowded House took the stage to perform their classic 80’s hit, “Don’t Dream it’s Over.” After that, Eric McFadden ascended with his darkly profound flamenco style guitar, accompanied by underground punk pop sensation Paula O’Rourke (Tiny) on bass, and Wally on kit. After Eric’s burning set, I noticed a familiar face walking towards me mumbling something like, “That boy is amazing”. Low and behold, it was George Clinton from Parliament Funkadelic! As I stood there marveling, I looked to my right and noticed producer Butch Vig (Nirvana) waiting to go on stage with his band Garbage (I’m Only Happy When It Rains). Around 11:30pm, Sheryl Crow came out on stage to perform, “The First Cut Is The Deepest”, followed by, “If It Makes You Happy”, with Wally on drums, and Tad Wadhams on bass. For the final number, Sheryl and the band played, “Everyday Is A Winding Road.” Toward the end of the song, George Clinton crept out of the wings and led the enthusiastic 2000 strong crowd in a Crow/Clinton version of, “We Want The Funk”, at which point Paula O’Rourke grabbed my hand and pulled me out on stage. I was dancing like a maniac, singing with members of Parliament, when Bonnie Rait walked out. For the last number, Jackson Browne led us all (at this point 60 people) in an amazing “live aid” style jam of the Bob Marley classic, “No Woman No Cry” that went on for more than 10 minutes. As Tom Freund and I shared a microphone, I looked back to notice Wally having the time of his life, surrounded by all his friends. The good news is the cancer is gone. The healing has begun, and I can’t think of a better occasion to have signaled a new beginning. Way to beat it Wally!
Tuesday, November 28th
Wally Ingram
My friend Wally Ingram recently found out that he has a rare form of cancer called Squamous Cell Carcinoma. For any of you who are unfamiliar with Wally, he is an amazing drummer/percussionist that has performed and/or recorded with everyone from Jackson Brown and Bonnie Rait, to Sheryl Crow, David Lindley, Crowded House and Widespread Panic. Wally has been going through chemo treatments at Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles, California for the past four weeks and is in good spirits. He is the proud parent of 10-month old daughter Lydia, as well as a devoted husband to his wife Laurie. As you can imagine, the financial strain on the Ingrams has been considerable. They were lucky to have had insurance, which is unusual for most musical families, however, not all of the bills have been covered, and any help is greatly appreciated. For more information on how you can make a donation, please visit http://www.wallyingram.com.
I have been busy writing and recording my fourth album, which will be released in early 2007. We are getting ready to start the mix process, which I am very excited about. Some of the guest artists that have helped make this recording are: Wally Ingram, Brian Jordan, Chevy Martinez, August, Chris Lovejoy, David Noble, Kaveh Rastegar, and Scott Kusmeric.
Thursday, September 14th
Debs Bibs!
This past Sunday I flew to Newport, Oregon to spend some quality time with my mom and grandmother, Anna B. Frazier. Granny Anna, as we call her, will be turning 89 years old this coming December, but you would never think that if you met her. She likes to keep really busy. Today she woke up before the crack of dawn and began reading her book about Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was President of the United States when my Granny was just graduating from College around 1940 or so. After reading, she potted five plants in the side yard. Then she painted a watercolor. The watercolor painting was so beautiful. There were colors in there I never even knew existed. After that, we had lunch at this cute little restaurant in Depoe Bay that overlooked one of the inlets that the rusty fishing boats sometimes navigate out into the open sea. As we sat there eating our sandwiches, my Granny mentioned to my mother that it would be a grand idea if someone started a bib company. Not bibs for babies, but bibs for grannies! We sat and chatted about all the different types of bibs we could make; one for tall grannies, one for fat grannies, one for short grannies, one for really messy grannies (the “Body Bib”- it ties around the neck and the waist). We finished our lunch and headed toward the outlet mall in Lincoln City. On our way, we continued thinking of ways to market our bib company. What would we call it? Who would run it? Granny decided that my mother would have to be the president and encouraged her to get busy writing a business plan. But first, we would need a name for it! My mother’s name is Debbie, so we decided on “Deb’s Bibs”. For our home base, an old victorian fixer-upper near Cheeseman Park in Denver would be perfect! It’s time to face it, napkins down the front of the shirt are just not fashionable anymore. So place your oders NOW at http://www.debsbibs.com and see once again why “drool is cool”.
Thursday, August 24th
New Record Coming Soon!
I don’t really know why I’m writing right now, there is no show to promote, nothing big happening. I guess I could tell you all about the new record I have been working on. It has been a long time coming (4 years in April!!). As you can imagine, I have written a lot of stuff in that four-year period, so narrowing it down was quite a task. I started with around 100 songs that I had written but never released. From that list, I chose 30 tunes from the past and present, some dating back as far as 1991. I have had many friends/fans comment on a particular song I wrote called, “Lost Again”, which is from my first record, “More Than I Can Give”. People liked that one, so I decided to reach back and rework other pieces I had written in the same time period as that one. Some of the titles are, “Over The Edge”, “I Burn”, “Blindside”, and “Now and Then”. You would only have heard these songs if you had seen me perform them at Paris on the Platte, Mercury Café, or Okabogi’s, all Denver area clubs or coffee houses that I was frequenting in the early days. As I began re-working these songs, it was as if I were dusting off an old journal that had been left in the up-stairs attic. The funny thing is, I could relate to the words now more than ever. From 30, I trimmed the fat down to 17 songs. As I began recording, certain songs were written right in the studio, others were a couple years old, things I had been performing, but had yet to record. I now have it down to 13. I think that is the number I will go with, not too much, not too little. The hope is that they are the right 13. I can’t wait to share this music with all of you. Thank you so much for your patience as I have been going through the process of living my life, learning from my mistakes, and capturing it all in a recording. I have not set a release date yet, but I am shooting for early 2007, maybe February or March. I will be posting some of the new tunes on myspace.com very soon so that you can all take a listen.
Peace and Love,
Matthew
Wednesday, August 9th
Good to be Home
I recently arrived back in Colorado for some performances this week and next, and have to say that it is good to be home. When I first moved to California in January of 2005, coming home was difficult because I had begun to create a new life for myself and being back made me feel like I was in some sort of time warp, revisiting all the things I had left behind. Yesterday I decided to go for a run around Wash Park, which is a beautiful park with two small lakes and a boathouse, located about five minutes from downtown Denver. The weather was a mix of clouds, a cool breeze, and the occasional raindrop. It was magical. As I walked around the park, I remembered a friend of mine named Chris Barber, who lived across the street from the park, and decided to pay him a visit. We ended up sitting on his front porch, chatting about life. One thing we talked about was how certain places on earth have an unmistakable magic about them. Parts of Peru, for example, make you feel a calm vibration. Chris explained to me that specific elements had come together, causing the transformative nature of places such as that. I told him I had been there once to visit my sister, who lives in Cusco and works as a travel guide, leading treks to Machu Pichu with the Qero Indians (http://www.qerotravels.com) (my sister is the blond girl in the photos). On that particular trip, she introduced me to a Shaman named Robin, who took my mother and I on a hike to the Temple of the Moon, just above the city of Cusco. My sister was not along on the hike, because she had injured her ankle a few days prior. We first stopped at a make shift alter, carved into the rocks, and offered tobacco. We were instructed to leave behind any burdens that may have been weighing heavily on our shoulders. At this point, Robin handed my mother a small stone. He told her that this was a very special stone and that she should give it back to my sister. My mother and sister have had their problems over the years, and as I stood there watching, I realized that the stone represented my sister’s heart. My mom was going to give my sister her heart back! As I walked around Wash park yesterday, I realized that all the past emotions and hurt had faded. I sat on a park bench across from the boathouse and closed my eyes. The cool breeze felt so good.
Tuesday, May 16th
Milkman Cometh
For some reason, I have always liked the night. I think it’s because everything is so quiet. I remember sitting on my parent’s front porch when I was still living at home, and listening to the crickets, sprinkler systems, and occasional car go whizzing by in the wee hours of the morning. Occasionally, the milkman would come and I would continue sitting there in the dark silence, only a few feet away, and he never even knew. I wrote a lot of songs on that front porch too. I would sit out there with a pad of paper and a pen, tilting the notepad toward the moonlight in order to see what I was writing. Sometimes it would be snowing. It is amazingly quiet at nighttime when snow is falling. It is completely magical. That has got to be my most favorite time at night. Of course, Fall nights are great too because you can smell the crisp, dry leaves and winter coming. It makes me think of Halloween. When I was in 2nd grade I grew the biggest pumpkin in my whole elementary school. This thing was HUGE! It was about the size of one of those really big medicine balls, and weighed close to 85 pounds. My whole 2nd grade class came over to see it. I put it on my front porch and somebody smashed it! After that, I was on a mad rampage for about a week, driving around my neighborhood on my Big Wheel, looking for whoever did it. Springtime meant that it was time to start sneaking out of the house. I would ride my ten-speed bicycle down the street at 3 in the morning, praying to God that no cops would pass by. We would always meet on the side of my buddy Matt McGowen’s house and play Truth or Dare. It was Sandra, Matt, Kim, and me. That’s where I had my first kiss. A few years later, my sophomore year, I started dating this girl named Allison. She broke my heart, and to this day I am still jarred whenever a girl wears the same perfume she wore. It’s called “Design”. Each time I catch a whiff, I am instantly transported. I secretly hope that they never stop production of it just so I can keep reliving that horribly good feeling!
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