matt urmy

Matt Urmy is a new world poet. Born in New York City, but raised in Tennessee, he walks in the footsteps of free thinkers. His performances weave listeners between the gritty free verse of the 1960's and smoking folk-country blues. Labeled an ?Americana? artist, his voice is etched with the weathered years of life polished with the sad pangs of hope that mirrors the depth of his writing. You cannot simply listen to any song once--every line is wrought with subtext and meaning that distills our existence?our lives.

You cannot simply listen to any song once--every line is wrought with subtext and meaning that distills our existence?our lives. Heavy? Yes, he is. One reviewer wrote ?Matt's part wolf, part river, part moonlight, and part cloud...oh yeah, and part human too..." Motivated by his artistic passion, his music grows each year?a true ?lifetime artist.? This is fueled by his driving and overwhelming work ethic, (90 self-booked and promotoed shows in 2009), as well as his compelling love for music and language. His most recent album, ?Sweet Lonesome' embraces his southern Americana roots style and also brings in guest appearances by local and national roots-rockers Jonell Mosser, Ashley Cleveland and Mary Gauthier, who inspired the title track.

Linking up with Belmont University, he also did something nobody else had done since 1982 ?he cut an album in the historic Quonset Hut, the half-cylinder studio that was built by Owen and Harold Bradley, home to Patsy Cline's "Crazy" session and central to the many Sony/Columbia artists that turned Music Row into Music Row.



Recorded live?just like the old days, the recording captures an energy not evident in most modern Nashville recordings. Keeping the sound true to the room, and live, the music breathes with the urgency of life?just like Matt wanted it.


Musically, Urmy played for more than a decade in the Knoxville scene with bands such as the Whiskey Scars?honing his performance chops with live audiences, but Sweet Lonesome is his first truly Nashville album. A natural enteratiner, Matt combines a the rare abilities of being able to connect directly to audiences, with his years of experience performing his songs, presenting very personal, and very professional performances.


He has come home with this red-blooded, B3-stoked blues-rock project that grabs your ears and won't let go. Sweet Lonesome brings together seemingly opposite impulses. Opening with a recitation of "Communing" ? a poem from his published collection Ghosts in a House, then grinds into "Stone in the River," a muscular, 12-bar shuffle that Jonnel Mosser and Ashley Cleveland heat up with a sultry call-and-response. Then Urmy's shadowy, ground-scraping rasp drives the bus home with some crisp and gritty, elemental blues. Renowned Tennessee poet and songwriter, RB Morris says of Urmy, ?Matt's a really fine poet and songwriter, and a great live renderer of it all. He's lifted the creative warrior spirit among us, and that's what we need."

Urmy is available and releasing his new work in Amazon.com, Itunes, and other online stores soon. To hear more of his previous work, or read reviews, or learn more about matt's life, or to Order Matt's book of poems check out his website, WWW.MATTURMY.COM