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by rick grant
rickgrant01@comcast.net
It was a strange scene at Pauly’s Pizza when I arrived to cover Matt Collins. Lynyrd Skynyrd was performing a concert on the flat screen TV (muted) above the stage while singer/songwriter Matt Collins was performing his catchy original music. For me, it was a bizarre juxtaposition, sending my consciousness into a then-and-now time-warp. As Bob Dylan said after his 1960s Newport Folk festival debacle, in which he and The Band went electric, causing a near riot by folk purists, “It’s all music.”
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Indeed, Matt Collins is forging his own path as a singer/songwriter. He is a 27 year old veteran of playing in rock bands during his U of F college years. During that time, Matt discovered he could write melodic songs that went over well with audiences. While still in Gainesville, Matt joined the band The Treatment and played with them for twelve years. They recorded three albums the third of which was White Bread on Cinemark Records.
In 2005, the group released an EP titled Wake Up. Then a funny thing happened when the group amicably decided to go their separate ways, The Treatment’s song Echo Radio was featured on the CBS hit show, The Ghost Whisperer, starring Jennifer Love Hewett. The song was featured in episode 2 of Season 2.
Clearly, the 10 second placement of this song in a scene with a boy listening to his iPod was not a big time launching event, but it did get the lads thinking about reforming the group. But as of now, nothing has come of that idea. “We have done just about everything an independent local band could ever hope to do. We are very proud of the song making a major television show,” Matt said at the Pauly’s gig.
Meanwhile, Matt is playing over 200 solo acoustic shows a year from Jacksonville, Florida (where he resides) to Charlotte, North Carolina. “I’m so lucky to be able to do what I love for a living. My only goal is to give 100% of myself to each night to whomever will listen, and hope that they will enjoy themselves as much as I enjoy performing,”
Matt has been working on his first solo CD, Matt Collins Short & Sweet and it is finally finished. What started out as an idea for a somewhat bare-bones live CD back in January of this year, has been through many changes and several studios in a couple of different states.
“My recordings were mixed by Jon Kaplan in New York City. I plan to stage a CD release party in Jax, January 27, at Jack Rabbits. I will be sharing the stage with Alt-country band from Raleigh, N.C. called Chatham County Line,” Matt said.
Matt’s set at Pauly’s Pizza, where he gigs every Friday from 6:00 to 10:00 pm, showcased his powerful voice and original orchestration using looping devices to setup rhythms, over which he improvises on his amplified acoustic guitar. Matt presents a full sound featuring his intelligently conceived originals and some cleverly rearranged covers. Amid the enticing aroma of Pauly’s New York styled pizza, sending me into a serious pizza jones, Matt delivered his material with magnetic appeal.
Of all the solo singer/songwriters I’ve covered lately, Matt is one of the most talented both as a songwriter and a performer. He said that he has worked with Chuck Nash and Ron Perry on a side project and has made many friends in the local musical community.
For people starved for high quality original music, Matt Collins is a righteous choice to see live. He plays every Friday at Pauly’s. It’s a serious pizza restaurant that serves beer and other Italian New York styled deli dishes. It’s a great place to eat pizza and dig Matt Collins’ acoustic alchemy and original material.
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