The Suitcase Junket

The Suitcase Junket

The Suitcase Junket is the solo project of Matt Lorenz, a musician from Vermont, United States, born in 1982. Based in Amherst, Massachusetts, he also works in wine and public art and describes himself as a maker of many things. The project is connected to his membership of Rusty Belle, where it begins as a side venture rather than a separate full band.

Sound and setup

The Suitcase Junket uses a one-man-band arrangement built around repurposed objects and scavenged instruments. Lorenz plays a suitcase bass drum, a washboard underfoot, a hi-hat, an old gas can fitted to a foot pedal, and a beat-up guitar rescued from the trash. The approach gives the music a rough, handmade character and links the performance style to themes of salvage and endurance.

Recordings

His first album, Sever and Lift, is recorded in Greenfield. The project sits within Americana and related roots-based music, and the presence of throat singing among the associated tags points to an unusual vocal style alongside the stripped-down instrumentation.