matty c lines up massive summer tour
Matthew Carlson (Stick Arounds/Harborcoat) is headed out for a three week acoustic tour this summer across the Eastern half of the United States. This run is designed to coincide with the release of Matty’s forthcoming solo EP, Late Bloomers. The tour will feature Matty sharing songs and stories from the new record as well as dazzling audiences with tunes and tales from his vast catalog of songs that he has written and recorded with The Stick Arounds, Harborcoat, and The Pantones.
Here is a look at the full list of Matty’s dates this summer.
July 28 - Louisville, KY - Venue TBA*
July 29 - Memphis, TN - B-Side Bar
July 30 - Nashville, TN - Betty’s Grill
August 1 - Knoxville, TN - Corner Lounge (Part of Suburbs Fest)
August 2 - Asheville, NC - Venue TBA*
August 4 - Durham, NC - Stanczyks
August 5 - Falls Church, VA - Clare & Don’s
August 6 - Baltimore, MD - Venue TBA*
August 7 - Coatesville, PA - Animated Brewing
August 8 - Brooklyn, NY - Freddy’s Bar
August 9 - Northern Jersey, NJ - Venue TBA*
August 11 - Rockport, MA - House Concert
August 12 - Kingston, NY - Venue TBA*
August 13 - Rome, NY - Copper City Brewing Company
August 14 - Buffalo, NY - Revolution Gallery
August 15 - Pittsburgh, PA - Balance Brewing
August 16 - Lansing, MI - The Avenue Cafe
While Matty may not be a household name, he has gained extensive praise in critical circles for his impressive body of work. Here are just a few kind things that folks have had to say about Matt’s recorded output.
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“… brims with retro tangs and luminous jangly guitars resulting in music simultaneously dazzlingly good and infectiously alluring.” - The Young Folks
“ … a rousing dose of English pop-rock that recalls the Smiths, 1980s new wave, and the 1990s Brit-pop invasion.” - Glide Magazine
“… spirited, Indie rock melodies with poignant lyrics.” - Imperfect Fifth
“That heart-on-your-sleeve, probably-should-have-quit-before-that-last-whiskey, keep-it-loose-&-loud sound that is best delivered in a flannel shirt and an upper-Midwestern accent.” - Pencil Storm
“Hearty midwestern rock with big guitar hooks and desperate lyrics. It’s a simple story and one best told in a sweaty, loud bar with beer soaked floors.”- Glorious Noise
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photo by Jena Hovey McShane
“The music is classic indie rock and there’s something in guitar work and in Carlson’s vocals that brings to mind some of the great Australian bands of the 1980s and 90s, like The Triffids, Died Pretty or The Church.”
— AMERICANA UK
" The Lansing, Mich. band came together as a project that was like casting a movie that breaks down the belief of idyllic small-town life and the underlying clouds of disappointment. Not unlike Sherwood Anderson’s stories Winesburg, Ohio, Primary songwriter Matthew Carlson’s intelligent jangle-pop recalls such cult favorites as The Windbreakers and The Vulgar Boatmen."
— SHEPHERD EXPRESS
“As in all the best jangle-pop, the almost joyous sounding instrumentals starkly juxtapose the heavy lyrics. If you're a fan of R.E.M or any jangle pop for that matter, you will love this record.”
— WLUR
“Joy is Elusive is a top notch listen. Sit in an Armchair and you'll soon find yourself tapping your foot and singing along. But this is also an album to listen to and admire. It is a balance between Country, even Americana and Guitar Pop, but that just makes the album welcomingly less predictable.”
— I DON’T HEAR A SINGLE
“Like Teenage Fanclub had left Glasgow and resettled in the American midwest.”
— ROCKIN’ THE SUBURBS
“Joy Is Elusive brims with retro tangs and luminous jangly guitars resulting in music simultaneously dazzlingly good and infectiously alluring.”
— THE YOUNG FOLKS
“A rousing dose of English pop-rock that recalls the Smiths, 1980s new wave, and the 1990s Brit-pop invasion. Lyrically, the song draws from the feeling of being stuck in a deep depression and trying to get out, a feeling that resonates with many of us in these fucked up times we’re living in.”
— GLIDE MAGAZINE
“Spirited, Indie rock melodies with poignant lyrics.”
— IMPERFECT FIFTH
“Springsteen-style working-class hymns, heartbreaking ballads focused on mental health, and REM-inspired dance numbers paint the colors and nuances of humanity on Harborcoat’s wonderfully crafted canvas.”
— LOCAL SPINS GRAND RAPIDS
“Plays like a glorious expression of joy mixed in with a jangled melody that washes over the soul like the perfect wave.”
— THE WHOLE KAMESE
royal scene joins the phonophore family
We are thrilled to welcome Royal Scene to the Phonophore family.
The members of Royal Scene grew up in Michigan. They're mature enough to remember their parents spinning the Beatles, Stones, the Who, and Zeppelin and later, during formative early teen years, feeling the pull of Cheap Trick, AC/DC, the Cars, and Kiss. Further on, they dove headlong into the Replacements, Husker Du, and Dinosaur Jr. The common thread: guitars, songs, and hooks. Autumn leaves, rust, and Faygo Rock & Rye. Midwestern crunch pop* injected with doses of Americana and the Second British Invasion.
In the early '90s, Scott Owens (vocals/guitar), Blair Darling (bass), Randy Farlin (drums), Tim Marzorati (vocals/guitar) , and Marc Nischan (vocals/guitar) - childhood friends, high school classmates, and college buddies - started writing and playing gigs. They cut their teeth in a vibrant and supportive scene with East Lansing at the center of the bull's eye. Two of these intertwined projects, 19 Wheels and The dt's, signed deals with Aware/Columbia and Warner Chappel, recorded albums, and toured the country playing many hundreds of shows between them.
Fast forward to 2016 or so. "Hey. Let's play." The initial (re)connection was forged via Bastards of Young, a Replacements cover band. After playing a fistful of energetic, well-received shows the focus shifted. "Hey. Let's write..."
Royal Scene has released two EPs, "Meet You at the End" (2019) and "Dose" (2020), and are currently writing songs for a release in early 2022 on Phonophore Records.
*not soda
