MANCHESTER, NH – Tennessee has an immense musical history when it comes to both blues and country. There’s a good chance that one of your favorite musicians has either honed their craft in “The Volunteer State,” been influenced by the music that’s come out of that part of the United States or currently lives there when they’re not on the road.
Abiding by the country aspect while incorporating some rock & roll flair, Matt Woods is one of many talented musicians who call the place home. He sets himself apart with his songwriting skills that adds his own brand of storytelling. As part of his “Right On Time Tour” with fellow singer-songwriter Ted Russell Kamp, Woods is going to be performing at The Shaskeen Pub & Restaurant in Manchester on October 5 with the free show starting at 9 p.m.
We had a talk ahead of the show about him doing his own art and design, what made him want to pick up the guitar and start playing, his thoughts on the music scene in Nashville and plans for some new music going into next year.
Rob Duguay: The poster for the “Right On Time Tour” you’ve been on features two Kit-Cat clocks with one colored red and the other colored black. Who came up with the design for the poster and do you own an actual Kit-Cat clock at home?
Matt Woods: I don’t own one, but I did the poster and the design myself.
RD: Oh, cool. Have you always been doing this for yourself when it comes to making posters and doing your own designs?
MW: I do a lot of it, it’s sort of born out of necessity. Early on, when I needed some art, merch design or whatever else, I taught myself how to do some graphic designing and I’ve been doing it ever since.
RD: That’s awesome and I think it came out great with the poster. How would you describe your journey to pursuing music while in Nashville? What inspired you to pick up a guitar and start singing?
MW: I’ve been doing this for so long, I’ve been doing it all of my adult life and I studied writing while in college at the University of Tennessee. I started playing music as a hobby in my bedroom, at parties or whatever, and I suppose that I began writing songs even before that. In high school, I would write these little songs that weren’t very good and it eventually felt like the right thing to do. I spent a lot of time listening to bands and playing guitar at home and the opportunity to fill in for a local bar gig arised. This acoustic duo I would watch in Knoxville would sometimes let me come up on stage to play a song or two and they asked me to fill in one night.
I covered the evening and I had a blast. From that point forward, I bought a PA and I started booking bar gigs around town.
RD: It’s been said that within the Nashville music scene there are two different communities with one being where Music Row is and the other being everywhere else in the city. What are your thoughts on this and have you directly experienced this unique dynamic?
MW: That definitely exists. There’s the Nashville country music industry and I know a lot about the business that happens around Music Row. It might not be as underground as it once was, but there’s a thriving scene outside of that world with all sorts of artists across various genres. I moved back to East Tennessee a couple of years ago after living in Nashville for several years and there’s a thriving Americana scene and a thriving rock & roll scene as well. For a lot of people, when they think of Nashville they think of mainstream country that’s played on the radio and that side of the business.
RD: What’s your opinion on performing around the New England region of the United States? Do you find audiences to be a bit different around here?
MW: I love touring up there, man. I think there’s some really great music fans in that region and I’ve always felt welcomed. I feel right at home when I come up there, to be honest. It’s been a good place for me and I’m happy to be coming back, it’s been some time since I’ve had the opportunity to do some substantial touring up there.
RD: I think it’s really cool that you had such a positive experience around these parts. After the show at The Shaskeen, what are your plans for the rest of the year?
MW: I have been working on some new music. It’s not quite finished yet, but I hope to get at least one of the singles all wrapped up and released by the end of the year. It seems like that may be the right move for the next several months, just starting to leak some of the singles from what will eventually be another album release a little later down the line. 2024 also marks 10 years since the release of an album I did called “With Love From Brushy Mountain”, so there are some plans to celebrate the anniversary of that next year while releasing some new music as well.