Last year, I stumbled upon the music of Matt McCloskey while looking for something new to listen to.  One listen to his Hard Rains EP and I was hooked.  I have described the sound before as a more accessible Ryan Adams, but it’s more than that. His songs ask the questions that I am facing in my own life right now, questions that at some point I guess every adult asks themselves:  Am I happy with who I am?  What am I doing with my life?  Is it enough?

Steven Bush, a film maker in Austin, chronicled Matt’s battles with these types of questions and his pursuit of songwriting.  The result, a documentary entitled Reason to Bleed, is set to be released in August.  As I sat and watched the trailer on my lunch break today, tears pricked at my eyes.  Takes guts to put yourself out there like that, in your songs, and now, in film.  Gives me mad respect for this incredible songwriter.

The Hard Rains has been taken down from iTunes, but you can download it for free over on NoiseTrade (at least for the time being).

Check out the trailer.  Then go listen to Matt.

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