Summer Update!

Hey all,

Sorry for the delay between blogs…I finally slowed down to give you an update, so here it is…

Song of Hope
I started my summer off with a bang and it’s been an exciting last few months. In the first part of June I was commissioned to write a song for the What God Has Joined Ministries. I’m passionate about marriages and couples working through their issues. Marriage isn’t easy and it takes a lot of work, commitment and sometimes needs some additional support and that’s where this ministry comes in. Since this is a topic I’m adamant about the song really just wrote itself. I actually wrote the majority of the song in the shower and in my head while driving around. Once I had the song written I took it to Jarod Evans at Blackwatch Studios in Norman, OK and here’s what we came up with:

“Song of Hope”

Bringing Up Bobby Cast Party
A few weeks ago I played a cast party for a feature film that’s being shot in Oklahoma. The movie, “Bringing Up Bobby”, is being directed by Famke Janssen (she’s one of the tall, beautiful actresses in X-Men). There is a great cast including Marcia Cross, Bill Pullmen, Milla Jovovich, etc. The party was a blast to perform at and the cast was all super gracious, humble and a lot of fun. Here’s a pic with executive producer, David Johndrow (I met David as a designer…I designed the wine labels for Johndrow Vineyards – www.johndrowvineyards.com), and Milla Jovovich (most well know for her role in The Fifth Element):

david johndrow, milla jovovich and matt

Nominee Design Studio
I’ve been an artist and designer for a while and over the past few years have helped out several artists/bands on their album artwork, websites, posters, etc., so decided to start my own design shop to work with acts on a more ‘official’ level. I formed Nominee Design Studio this month  and have started working with some amazing artists including Graham Colton (OKC native and national recording artist), The Fixx (UK band from early MTV days that had #1 in the 80s with “One Thing Leads to Another”), The Psychedelic Furs (UK band from the early MTV days with a huge cult following), Danny Barnes (Dave Matthew’s banjo player), Christopher Wray (Okie that currently lives in LA and recording an EP with The Roots drummer ?uestlove and John Mayer’s bassist, Pino Palladino), The Shining Lights (new band out of , Albert Aguilar (local artist with a lot of talent), Julia Sinclair (awesome up and coming guitar player and songwriter from New York) and Mike Feingold (Erykah Badu’s guitarist). I’m super proud of this roster of musicians as they are all great people with a tremendous amount of talent and I’m lucky to be working with them. Oh, and I’m also a fan of their work, so that’s a huge plus!

With Nominee I’ve been able to partner up with my wife, Mandy, on photo shoots for bands. We recently did the shots for The Shining Lights which you can see on the Nominee site (www.nomineedesign.com). We’ll be teaming up again in LA to shoot some new promo shots for Julia Sinclair. Mandy’s site is www.mandystansberry.com.

Los Angeles Tour
Last but not least, I’ll be playing some dates in Los Angeles the first week of September. I’m looking forward to getting back to the West Coast and seeing some friends and playing some shows! Also, if you’re in the OKC area I have quite a few regular dates around, so check my site out frequently for shows (sometimes I book surprise lat minute shows week of…) www.mattstansberry.com

Friend Me!
Also, be my friend on Twitter (@mattstansberry) and Facebook (I also have a Musician page, so make sure to “like me”)  – that’s probably the best way for us to stay in touch

Much love,
M

Filed under: Art, Tour , ?uestlove, albert aguilar, blackwatch studios, bringing up bobby, christopher wray, danny barnes, dave matthews, david johndrow, erykah badu, famke janssen, graham colton, john mayer, julia sinclair, la tour, mandy stansberry, matt stansberry, mike feingold, milla jovovich, nominee design, pino palladino, song of hope, the fixx, the psychedelic furs, the roots, the shining lights, what god has joined

Singing Hallelujah

My grandma passed away last month after a tough battle with cancer. She was a wonderful lady….this song is for her.

“Singing Hallelujah”

Much love,
M

Filed under: Community , grandma, matt stansberry, singing hallelujah

SXSW, Haiti, St Paddys

The past few weeks have been pretty busy. First I played a St Paddys show down in Bricktown. It was very cold that night which made it a little tough on the crowd, but they were great and hung in there with us. OKC has some of the greatest people on earth.

Bricktown St Patrick's Day Block Party

Getting to chat with the crowd after the show

My daughter wanted in on the action!

Then, I went last minute down to Austin for SXSW with my dad. We went to the Recording Academy/Grammy party where Blue October and Los Lonely Boys played…both bands killed it. I didn’t play this year which was actually kind of nice because I got to catch more acts and meet some cool people. Good times!

Los Lonely Boys jamming away - they were excellent

Meeting up with the band

Bill Murray hanging out at the hotel at SXSW

Chatting with Citizen Cope

My dad and Neil Portnow, Pres/CEO of Recording Academy/Grammys

George Flanigen, Chair of the board for the Recording Academy/Grammys

Bob Bradley (Authentik Artists), Justine Bennett (artist) and Andrew Brightman (Brightman Music)

Last week I got a call to fill in for Dave Barnes at a Haiti Benefit on the University of Oklahoma campus. The call came at noon the day of the show because Dave had gotten sick. I was available and didn’t want to turn down an opportunity to play, so I of course accepted the invite. It turned out to be a fun show and the audience was really receptive even though they weren’t initially expecting me. I think I ended up being the “mystery artist” or something.

Here’s a live performance of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” that I played that night…love jammin on this one!

And, here are a few pics from the show…

Backstage in the green room warming up

Performing in Sharp Music Hall at OU

Making some new friends after the concert

Much love,
- M

Filed under: Tour, Uncategorized , andrew brightman, authentik artists, bob bradley, bricktown, citizen cope, george flanigen, grammys, haiti benefit, justine bennett, los lonely boys, matt stansberry, neil portnow, recording academy, st patrick's day, sxsw, university of oklahoma

An Inspiring Woman

It’s always nice to have role models and people that inspire you. I often think if their weren’t people constantly around me to influence me I’d be a pretty boring dude. It’s all of these colorful friends and family in my life that add so much to my personality and character. One of the dearest of these is my grandma. She has added so much value to my childhood and young adult life by her example. I can’t believe that she’s 90 years old and still displaying such a sheer determination and love for life. Over the holidays we found out that she had terminal cancer. Not only was it terminal cancer, but she’s had it for over two years. She didn’t want to say anything because of my aunt had been diagnosed with cancer around the same time. So let me digress and tell you briefly about my aunt Laura…

Laura has a wonderful young family in Texas, was diagnosed with cancer throughout her body and she has been fighting hard to get her life back. Against all odds she has amazingly done just that and it has not been an easy road. She has been beating this awful disease and showing all of us that prayers and hope can overcome. I could equally be writing this blog just about her because she is another role model of mine that has inspired so many others with her strong will and faith.

So knowing all of this I could understand why my grandma didn’t want to announce she had cancer at that same time as my aunt. My grandma comes from a different generation. Born just after World War I, she has lived through the dust bowl, World War II and a host of trying times. This woman has seen a lot and I think it’s played a huge role in making her as strong as she is. She’s also a very private woman. She doesn’t talk much about personal things or her feelings, especially if it’s bad news. I’ve always seen her upbeat and excited to be around others. I’m sure there are times where she’s feeling bad, especially lately, but she always has a smile on her face when she sees us. I know it makes her day when family visits and she wants nothing more than for all of us to be happy. She’s so selfless and I admire that so much.

Today my dad sent me this photo of my grandma. Yesterday Southwestern Publishing published their monthly magazines (NW Style, Edmond Monthly, Nichols Hills News and several others) with an article about my new release by Lauren Hammack. My dad had picked up a few copies and took them to show my grandma. They’ve been making quite a few trips the past few months to stay with her. I know this article made her proud and that completely makes my day. She wants her family to be successful, but she also wants us all to remain humble and remember our roots.

She’s a funny lady because I’m sure the whole town of Elk City will know about this article, but she might not mention it to me. It doesn’t matter if she mentions it to me or not because I know it has made her proud. It’s one thing to make new fans because of articles or people talking about you, but I don’t think anything can beat the thrill of seeing my grandma hold this article up in this photo. I’m not sure how much longer she has on this earth, but I do know she’s lived a wonderful life and she has changed mine forever.

Much love,
M

Filed under: Self Portrait EP , edmond monthly, grandma, lauren hammack, matt stansberry, self portrait, southwestern publishing

2010!

For the first time, that I can honestly remember, I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions. I know there are things I need to work on and what not, but I really just felt like I already was gearing up for 2010 early on. So, when January rolled around with a bang I was a little thrown back (in a really good way of course!). I didn’t really know what to expect after the release of the new EP in late October. It’s my first real solo effort and I’m working with a new music company in California, new booking agent, yada, yada, yada and there’s simply a lot of change all at once with my music (even though I’d been working on the EP for about a year by the time it came out). I knew this year, like any, would have its highs and lows, but I was not expecting the year to kick off with as much excitement as it has.

Since the release of the new disc Authentik Artists, my music label/publisher in LA, has been drumming up some great exposure for the record including a major feature with “Love Struck” on MTV’s Real World:DC, “I’m So Blue” playing in the Nordstrom stores nationwide and appearing on nordstrom.com in their “Band Highlights” section. I was also featured in Clear Channel Radio Digital’s “Artists to Watch” section with plays throughout hundreds of online radio stations and featured on NewsOK.com among some other cool stuff going on right now. All that mixed with two amazing shows in OKC this month (one at Bin73 with Brantley Cowan for our Europe Post Tour show and the other this past weekend at VZDs) and I’m feeling optimistic about what this year will bring.

This has all been a long time coming and a dream of mine since I was a lanky, geeky kid in middle school playing guitar all day in my bedroom, so I’m trying to just live the dream and hope I can continue to reach people with my music. That’s all we can ever really ask, right? Plus, I’m really just getting started and have a long ways to go.

With all that said…..2010, you are surprising me and I appreciate you. I know you still might let me down cause you’ve got a ways to go, but I’m going to assume the best for you. I wake up everyday excited about all the people surrounding my life at home, work, shows and I just think about how blessed I really am. Thanks for a great start to a new and promising decade!

Much love,
-M

p.s. here are a few individuals I’d like to personally thank for their enormous contributions and really for making the biggest impact on my debut: Graham Colton, Scott Austin, Jarod Evans, Bob Bradley…thanks guys!!!

Filed under: Self Portrait EP , authentik artists, bob bradley, graham colton, jarod evans, matt stansberry, scott austin, Self Portrait EP

Uncovered

I’ve gotten into a lot of free downloads of live concerts and the like from artists I dig, plus I love VH1 Storytellers so I thought I’d create my own little behind the music audio experience. I know this type of thing isn’t for everyone, but I hope that those who are into knowing why a song was written or hearing it in a really raw form will appreciate where this is coming from. This isn’t fancy or well-produced. In fact, it’s sorta shotty and candid, but that’s exactly what I intended. I recorded it in my little home studio, didn’t edit it or do any retakes because I didn’t want this to be scripted or forced. It is what it is, which really excites me and honestly makes me feel a little vulnerable since I’m a perfectionist by nature. Plus, I don’t like listening to myself talk! Does anyone really like the way their speaking voice sounds on a recording?  So, the title definitely ends up having a double meaning to me. It uncovers the songs obviously, but this also uncovers me (not in a dirty way guys…come on you know what I mean). Anyway, my friends and fans who want the radio quality tracks can still download those on iTunes….this is for my music enthusiasts/intellectuals. Let me know what you think.

http://mattstansberry.bandcamp.com

Much love,
M

p.s. For best results, I recommend downloading it, burning it on a disc and listening to it on your morning drive.

Filed under: Self Portrait EP , matt stansberry, Self Portrait EP, storyteller, uncovered

Family Jam

Being with family is my favorite part about the Holidays. I got to pull my sister-in-law’s family out of the snow on Christmas Eve with my father-in-law after a great evening with my wife’s family. Pulling them out of the ditch during blizzard conditions was actually kind of cool since I’m generally not the guy on those types of journeys. Plus, my father-in-law, Roy, is an amazing person to be around – he’s super tough and could kick my butt…just kidding…but not really.

After our time in north east Oklahoma and delaying our return trip due to snowy/icy conditions we headed back to OKC to have Christmas with my family. What made this so special was getting to share the stage with my brother, Joe, at the Bell Isle. We opened up for Modern Rock Diaries and it had been the first time we played a show together since high school. I mean, we’d played shows in the past few years where I’d play a set and then he’d play a set, but this time we played each other’s songs, a few covers and brought in our pals, Colby and Jeremiah, to play percussion. Those dudes are super talented and made the songs really vibe. It was  a chilled out show with acoustics and it was just refreshing to be sitting next to my brother and playing music together again. It was a very organic and candid performance that I’m really proud of and I’m hoping we won’t wait another ten years to do this again. Modern Rock Diaries also put on one of the best shows I’ve seen by these guys. They are really hitting their groove and produced some really intricate and layered arrangements for a three piece. I was blown away, so I’m anxious to hear their new EP next summer.

The next day we reconvened for a late lunch and we had our annual family jam, which consists of my dad, brother, brother-in-law and myself pulling together all of our stringed instruments (my bro-in-law, Josh, has quite the arsenal of banjos, mandolins, acoustics) and playing each other’s songs and old classic bluegrass and folk songs. I will say that we threw in some modern covers this go around. We all write music so it’s nice to jump in on tunes we don’t play as much and add our flavor to them. We can all hold our own on banjo, mandolin and guitar so we literally just trade off instruments and songs and just go for it. It’s one of my absolute favorite things to do with my family and it’s a huge part of who we are. I can’t remember a time with my family where music didn’t play a large role in the conversation or in the background. It’s sort of like we all live to create the soundtrack to our own lives (I don’t mean that to sound cheesy either). What makes these get togethers so dear to me is that there are no agendas or egos. We don’t invite anyone over to hear us, we don’t record the sessions, there’s no awkwardness of what to play next or what to say…we just have a good old family jam.

Much love,
M

Filed under: Uncategorized , acoustic guitars, family jam, joe stansberry, josh kingcade, mark stansberry, matt stansberry

Rome – Day 5

After our last stop on the tour in London we decided to head to Italy for some time in Rome, Florence and Assissi. In order to pack all that traveling in we had to catch a really early flight. Unfortunately, the flight was delayed but we keep meeting cool people in the airport. While we were waiting we met, Matt Schofield, who was on our flight from London to Rome. After talking with him for a few minutes he mentioned he was a touring musician too, so after he sat down we looked him up on Brantley’s blackberry phone and discovered that some rank him as one of the top 10 blues guitarists in the world. He’s a super cool dude and amazing guitarist – his site is mattschofield.net. Check him out (the vids are sick!). Rome was a great time. We got to see all the major sites…Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Roman Ruins, Parliament and we got to spend our Thanksgiving eating pasta and pizza in front of the Pantheon. That’s definitely a once in a lifetime kind of deal.

Thanks again to our local tour sponsors for helping make this trip happen!

-Matt

www.peasantsbekings.com

Filed under: Tour , assissi, europe tour, florence, matt stansberry, rome

London – Day 4

We got up early today to catch a flight from Dublin to London so we could see a few sites before our show. We met Evanna Lynch, who plays Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter movies, in the airport and she ended up being on our flight. She told Mandy that she appreciated her being so discreet about recognizing her. I’m sure she appreciated us not making a big deal of her in front of everyone. Once we landed in Heathrow airport we jumped on the tube and headed to Earl’s Court to check into our hotel. I had forgotten how tiny everything is in Europe…tiny halls, tiny rooms, tiny bathrooms, tiny elevators. We are all dudes over 6′ 2″ and used to the spaciousness that Oklahoma provides. Absolutely no complaints from us because we are having a blast – just a funny observation. After checking in we quickly headed down to Big Ben, saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, saw the London Eye, toured Westminister Abbey, grabbed some street food and we were off to set up and sound check. The venue was an awesome set up. We were right down in Notting Hill and the space was set up perfectly for acoustic shows. There was a big velvet curtain behind the stage and a chandelier above our heads. Plus, the sound man was great and the staff was really accommodating. This was definitely the best sounding show out of the three on the tour, so thanks to the Metropolitan for putting on their weekly acoustic series (Platform and Portobello Acoustic Sessions)!  After the show our pal, Clark, took us to the icebar, which was out of this world. The whole place was made of ice…even the glasses you drink from! We finished off the evening in China town celebrating another successful tour stop.

-Matt

www.peasantsbekings.com

Filed under: Tour , europe tour, london, matt stansberry

Dublin – Day 2 and 3

We rented a car, which in Ireland they call hiring a car, and drove from Belfast to Dublin. Brantley drove us in this tiny car that barely fit us and our stuff. The roads are small with tight curves and we’re on the opposite side of the road so it’s a little freaky and yet quite thrilling in some weird way I guess. Anyway, we made it to Dublin after a visit to a touristy spot where we looked at ruins that were 5,000 years old…older than Stonehenge! Crazy stuff and truly amazing.

We checked into our hotel in Dublin and then over to Sin E. Sin E is right off the river and a really great club. The owner, Kieran, treated us like royalty and the people were very welcoming to us and our music. I had my Dublin friend, Peter McGuire, who’s an awesome guitar player join me on my sets. Peter’s been a friend of friend until this trip and he’s simply a great guy and uber talented musician. It was a blast.

Before the show kicked off we were missing a mic so Kieran showed up at the club and drove us to another club which was full of famous Irish boxers, news casters and the like and we got the missing gear we needed to make the show work. What a great night with new friends!

Today we had a free day so we traveled to some countryside medieval site and the drive was out of this world beautiful with a huge waterfall, scary winding roads, rolling hills, plenty of sheep and a lot of wind and rain. We had lunch in a small little town where we ate some local food and then headed back to Dublin for an evening in the Temple Bar district and listenign to Irish folk music. Now it’s time for us to hit the hay and gear up for our show in London tomorrow night at the Portobello Acoustic Sessions in Notting Hill.

-Matt

Filed under: Tour , europe tour, matt stansberry