After nearly 30 years of playing shows, making records and writing songs, it’s fair to call Matthew Carlson a veteran. From his current work in the Stick Arounds and Harborcoat, to his previous stints in The Pantones and Third Uncle, Carlson has spent a lifetime writing songs filled with vivid characters, detailed worlds and personal touches.

Carlson is a born storyteller in person, and in his songs. His solo acoustic shows are comprised of emotional, funny, and moving stories about the songs and his own life that support his songs and the hidden lives and places behind them. To see Matty play solo is to see, feel and hear these songs in a new, and perhaps more profound way.

Harmony, bombast, and distortion are removed from even the most boisterous of numbers, and a bare, more vulnerable version of the songs appear. The tunes take on new life as they are stripped to only the most essential of ingredients.

During the early summer of 2023, Carlson embarked on his first ever full scale solo tour. Over the course of the seventeen day run, Matt played 14 shows across the eastern United States in a variety of small and private spaces. These shows took place in unconventional spaces for performing, such as homes, galleries, breweries, studios, historic buildings, and even the former site of a World’s Fair.

Matt is currently planning additional house shows and solo touring for 2024, and continues playing live and recording with The Stick Arounds and Harborcoat.