Tag Archives: let it burn

Reason To Bleed

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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.


More Matt McCloskey:  Web | Facebook | Twitter |

More Matt McCloskey

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I’m kind of obsessed with Matt McCloskey‘s music right now.  Some fella was nice enough to post a series of videos on YouTube that he shot last week at Matt’s show in Austin.  I just love the way he talks about his music – it’s so honest its painful.  “I thought I’d get better at being alive.”  Jesus – don’t we all?

Not Tonight/The Hard Rains

50 Cent Heart

Thanks to Lenny Sharp for posting the videos.

More Matt McCloskey:  Web | Facebook | Twitter | The Hard Rains on iTunes

Something New: Matt McCloskey

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I’m in love again.

I like to check out music that artists I like talk about. So when Lamar Stockton started posting about a singer-songwriter I’d never heard of before, I clicked.  And listened. And after a few go-rounds with Austin’s Matt McCloskey‘s lyrics and raw voice, I was spellbound. Game over, done. I was going to tumble hard for this one.

I first downloaded his latest EP, The Hard Rains, which came out last December (You can pick this gem up for free right now on Noisetrade).  My first thought was “Like Ryan Adams, but more accessible.”  The more I listened, the more the lyrics spoke to me.  The absolute heart-wrencher – one of the saddest songs I have ever heard – is “Not Tonight.”  Funny how a song doesn’t have to sound sad to be sad.  The entire EP is that way, full of acoustic guitar goodness, haunting instrumentation, and carefully crafted, but simple lyrics that demand self-introspection. “What if your life wasn’t as hard as it is, if the things keeping you down didn’t exist?  What would you do?  What would you do?”

I got busy downloading everything else Matt had on iTunes:  2010’s Let It Burn, and 2009’s These Times Won’t Last.  And every song is as good as the one before, if not better.  I find myself wrapping myself up in these tunes, falling asleep to them, listening to them over and over in the car, passing the hours at work with them as the soundtrack.

And so here I find myself, in love with another artist.  And happily so.  Betcha a buck that if you give Matt’s music a listen, you will be, too.

More Matt McCloskey:  Web | Facebook | Twitter | The Hard Rains on iTunes