Matt Morrow

Matt Morrow is a singer-songwriter from Guntersville, Alabama. He starts singing in childhood, first in private and then publicly after he decides to stop hiding his voice in his final year of high school. He begins playing music at 16, after receiving his first guitar, and later adds piano, which becomes an important part of his writing and recording.

Early life and influences

As a child, Morrow sings old standards from his grandparents’ record collection while alone at home. His musical tastes change after he hears Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You”. He develops a style built from folk and rock influences, which he describes as resembling a mix of Nebraska-era Bruce Springsteen and Tori Amos. His father dies when Morrow is twelve, and that loss later becomes part of his writing.

Songwriting and recordings

Morrow begins booking acoustic gigs in his hometown area, performing cover versions before establishing himself as a songwriter. He writes his first album, Songs About Real Live Girls, over the course of a year after the breakdown of a long-term relationship. The album includes songs about a one-night encounter in New York City, a relationship with someone unavailable, and his father’s death. It is recorded in one night using only guitar and piano, but still presents a layered sound.

He follows it with The Places You Don’t Know Are There little more than a year later. That record turns toward themes of addiction and isolation, and he plays every note himself. Compared with the first album, it uses more piano, while acoustic guitar still appears on about half the tracks. The arrangements include accordion on “Don’t Make a Sound”, synth strings on “You Said”, and pump organ on “Burgundy and Black”.

Lyrical themes and performance

His songs focus on emotionally damaged characters and direct accounts of love, loss, secrecy and instability. On stage, he also presents the material as self-aware, introducing “Don’t Make a Sound” while performing as part of an opening slot for Antje Duvekot at Boston’s Johnny D’s.