AWmusic

The downside to the sheer proliferation of music technology is that there’s simply too much of everything. Anyone who can press a key or scramble together a guitar chord can sound semi-capable given the right tools. In other words, everyone thinks they’re the Next Big Thing.

A couple of years back we were overrun with thrash metal and boy bands. Today it’s annoying female warblers, musical collectives and the overused singer-songwriter persona. Anyone who flies solo, swings a guitar and pens introspective lyrics is suddenly the next Lisa Loeb or John Mayer. It’s a case of supply heavily-outweighing demand.

You’ve probably never heard of Matt Hires and it’s very possible you never ever will which says more about the congestive nature of the genre than it does about his own musical talent.

Looking at Hires you can’t help but think of Jack Johnson, whose laidback eco-friendly personality figures heavily in both his appearance and his music. Johnson embodies the oceanside, surfing troubadour and Hires, with his trademark sandals and curly blonde locks, is aesthetically a Jack Johnson disciple.

For some, in today’s packed musical spectrum, it is just about looking the part. If you at least appear to be the type to pack various coffee houses across the world it’s highly likely you will. Our culture – especially the musical zeitgeist – is as much about being seen as it is about being heard, and in this case, that’s unfortunate for Hires. He has the guise of the modern minstrel yet that actually belies his wealth of talent.

Matt Hires’ biography doesn’t read especially poignant. He grew up in Florida with the musical seed planted by his father through both his genetic makeup and the interesting but tiring and almost cliché story of receiving his first (and only) guitar in 1977. As you might have guessed Hires still plays that very same guitar today (please have a seat ha and breathe deeply if that particular story has shocked any of you).

As “beautiful” as that story may seem it really means nothing if the kid can’t play and luckily – at least by what you can gauge from four songs from a debut EP – this kid can play. Simply titled Matt Hires – Live From the Hotel Cafe, this short but tight little compilation says a lot about what this guy is capable of. There are times when you firmly believe you may have slid a Dave Matthews CD in by mistake. His songs, his rhythm and even his voice are so Dave Matthews you wonder openly wonder about the frailties of intellectual property.

This is not to imply that Hires attempts to mirror the Matthews formula, it’s just that Matt’s music is so competent it seems too easy. His talent level is enough that even in four songs you know what a Matt Hires’ song sounds like. He’s etched his sonic mark in a very short time.

Of the four the best two are – smartly – his opening and his closing numbers. You Are the One comes at you with, what you will soon recognize to be, the Matt Hires’ sound. It’s bouncy without bordering on vapid and carries itself rhythmically in a way you don’t hear a lot these days. It almost sounds happy. It sounds refreshed. It sounds sincere.

Honey, Let Me Sing You a Song is Matt’s love ballad and, before you started cringing at the thought of being bombarded by it in a soundtrack-coming-to-you-soon, it doesn’t come across as sappy or overtly-emotional. Lyrically he fumbles, embracing his musical imperfections, cleansing his aural soul in a way..

And honey let me sing you a song
And listen to my words as they come out wrong
But don’t run away, run away this time
(And) honey let me look in your eyes
You open them one at a time
But don’t look away, look away this time

..only a love-struck troubadour could understand.

Again it comes across as sincere which is really all you ever want and expect from an artist. Speak in your own voice, let me hear your song and, if it’s good enough we’ll want to hear more and, in this case, we do.

You Are the One
Oh, Sunrise
Honey, Let Me Sing You a Song

Tags: EP, Live From the Hotel Cafe, Matt Hires