Matt Schofield is a blues guitarist and singer from Manchester, United Kingdom, born in 1977. He grows up in Fairford, Gloucestershire, listening to his father’s American blues records. At the age of 13, he sees a video of B.B. King, Albert Collins and Stevie Ray Vaughan jamming together, which sets him on the path to playing blues guitar.

He is entirely self-taught and is strongly influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins and Robben Ford. Guitar & Bass magazine places him in its Top Ten British Bluesmen of All Time. Ford later invites him on stage at a show, and comments on his playing.

Career

After leaving school, Schofield plays in several bands, including British blues singer Dana Gillespie’s London Blues Band. With Gillespie, he tours across Europe and also performs in India and the Caribbean. During this period he backs American musicians and develops his approach to the instrument.

The Matt Schofield Trio

The Matt Schofield Trio forms in 2003, when Schofield starts playing occasional gigs with organ player Jonny Henderson and drummer Evan Jenkins in a four-piece lineup. When the bass player misses one show, Henderson takes over left-hand bass duties on the organ, and the group settles on the organ-trio format. Schofield and the band use this setting to create a jazzier groove within a blues framework, with arrangements that build on the trio’s fuller sound.

The trio records a live set in a small club, using unrehearsed material, and this leads to its debut release, The Trio Live. This is followed by the studio album Siftin’ Thru Ashes and the live recording Live at The Jazz Café, all issued on Nugene Records.

Recording and touring

In the years after its debut, the trio appears in numerous radio sessions in the UK and Europe and tours widely. It plays major festivals in the UK, Holland and Belgium, gives shows in Germany and France, and also appears at festivals in Canada, including the Montreal Jazz Festival.