Matthew Morgan & The Lost Brigade

Matthew Morgan and the Lost Brigade is a hard-working band that has made its mark on the Chicago music scene, and is now pushing into the Midwest. With the diversity of banjo and mandolin alongside a female rocker that has shared the stage with Joan Jett, this band blends hopeful and upbeat rock with the deep reality of folk roots. Neil Young, Paul Simon and R.E.M. are among influences for the five-piece outfit that is poised to take on new musical territory with its follow-up to 2011’s Red Silhouettes.

With songwriting led by Matthew Morgan, the group rotates as backing musicians and a full-fledged collaboration. Morgan is a visual artist and musician, as is bassist Kavin Lahvic. This connection to Chicago’s Wicker Park art scene is another factor that sets the group apart, as MMLB carved a niche with well-attended shows at local art galleries including Chicago’s renowned Flat Iron Gallery.

MMLB is as “intense as whiskey with all the flavors of fine wine. Bombastic, upbeat pop/folk grabs audiences by the hand. It’s a sweet slow dance…” (OnAxis Music). With each show, responses from fans of both music and art have been overwhelmingly positive. CAUDog Records of Chicago, IL recognizes the band’s solid reputation and is partnering to produce and release the group’s first professional EP, expected in Fall of 2012.

The group began carving a niche in 2009 as previous members of Black Bottle Junction, who joined as recruits to support Morgan’s album project. The home-spun DIY album shines with quirk and charm, as acoustic guitars are paired with distorted electric guitar, accordion, driving drum beats, banjo, bells, keyboards and atmospheric gems which work together in surprising ways.

2011’s Red Silhouettes nods to stories from Civil War letters and victories from personal battles. Morgan (lead vocals, guitars) was diagnosed with a rare disease which he fought against and won. He now brings his zest for life and pursuing dreams to the fullest to the table. The experience gave Matt “a better idea of how important life is and how lazy we are when we think we have all the time in the world to do things."

The band is not a group of hobbyists. “I’ve wanted to do this since I was a little kid,” says Matt. The band met through a wide variety of means, from chance encounters to friends that “forgot” to mention they were wildly talented. Each member brings strength to the band adding harmonies, multi-instrumentalist skills and a plethora of life experiences. Their energetic live shows are a sonic feast. MMLB satiates the hunger for honest roots music mixed with fresh, fun creative rock. Matthew Morgan and the Lost Brigade make music we're glad to find.

www.matthewmorganmusic.com

OnAxis Music is Alive

Here's our latest bio for Matthew Morgan & The Lost Brigade...

Matthew Morgan and the Lost Brigade are folk music with flair. Bombastic, upbeat pop/folk grabs audiences by the hand. It’s a sweet slow dance when they dip into country roots. When the 5-piece connects with rock, MMLB is an intelligent, barreling good time: a bottle of whiskey with all the flavors of fine wine.

Distorted electric guitar, accordion, driving drum beats, banjo, acoustic guitar, bells—you are surprised by music as creative as it is easy to like. Relating to life issues and overcoming adversity, this band of champions gives power, strength, good vibes and fills the rock spectrum taking cues from R.E.M., Paul Simon and Neil Young.

Left Turn at Albuquerque: Worth the Detour

Left Turn at Albuquerque

Layered pop/rock music that's epic, tasteful, quirky and robust-- and that's just the first verse. With a sense of humor and rich life stories, lyrical depth joins forces with musical prowess. Multi-instrumentalists harmonize poetic lyrics as rhythmic jamming takes delightful, unexpected turns. The result is solid songcraft with elements of jazz, pop, bluegrass, folk and roots music. The group's first full-length album, In Broad Daylight (Twitter @leftturnalbuq #inbroaddaylight), produced by Chicago's CAUDog Records, is set for release this month. Take the detour and check out LTAA at Bottom Lounge June 26th at 7:30pm where they are joined by Aaron Williams Band, 3 in Counting and Trevor McSpadden and the Peacekeepers.

www.leftturnatalbuquerque.com

Matthew Morgan – Red Silhouettes

ALBUM REVIEW

While Chicago artist Matt Morgan's visual art pares images down to basic shapes, simplifying objects into blocks of color, his recent music album is just the inverse of that-- it turns the sweater of life inside out and shows us the fascinating patterns, loops, twists, turns and strings behind it. He does this through simplicity, complexity and through a word not often used outside overly-serious law firm advertisements, yet is in “Red Silhouettes” in spades: integrity.

Why might you need integrity in music? Perhaps to combat the disc's biggest charm- and notably not its achilles heel- the fact that Matt records and plays nearly all of the instruments in the DIY spirit and reality that marks independent music as a slightly different breed than its glossy Billboard chart counterparts. It might have been easy to worry that, as bands or artists obtain a few pieces of gear and rush to make an album, that Red Silhouettes may walk about with a scarlet “DIY” on the chest.

In fact, it should. The DIY creation helps the album at every turn. This home-spun album is peppered with detail and salted with a quirky charm that make it surprisingly complex, entirely original and fit like a perfect hat. It makes it unexpected, bitter and tasty; warm and conversational, light-hearted as tea and dark as strong whiskey, and as eye opening as a cup of coffee or transcendent as a peek at a the perfect ray of sun.

Bell-like gongs, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards and jiving organs mingle with triangles and harmonica. The collection of sounds and the way they are placed in arrangements keep the album's head high above water in what could otherwise be just a splash in the folk/country ocean. The variety in the choice of instrumentation has a “Where the Wild Things Are” vibe or the color half of The Wizard of Oz...it's a new reality. Red Silhlouettes is grounded in experience from real life- the stories are of battles, soldiers, and friends.

The lyrics, in part, are loosely based on letters from the Civil War. Within ear-shot of a folk fan, this mere idea could easily become sentimental, either full of reverb or heart-bleeding sonic memorabilia from the glory days of Alan Lomax- but this doesn't go in that direction. Instead, due to the number of different and unexpected sounds, there is musicality and sense of adventure. The battles can be war or personal battles.



The illustration on the album cover is based on brass buckeles from different insignia in the Civil War. The idea for the imagery of album was based on tintype pictures from the war, as Morgan looked to the era initially simply for ideas for lyrics. Morgan has found that starting with a story from another source is a way he can invent lyrics. In fact “My Country's Son” is attributed to J.D. Flowers, who is not a songwriter but a soldier that lived over 100 years ago. Matt came across his letters, as well as those of another soldier, a 12-year-old boy who ran away from home to join the regiment, and who “Drummer Boy” is loosely based on. The battles throughout the album are tempered with graceful realizations and a life-affirming energy.

Rather than dwelling on war, the album is more a commentary about life in general. Morgan states, “One pervasive theme is facing the demons in front of you-- taking your flag and going to the front of the line, [saying] “I'm gonna face this down, I'm gonna take charge of life and be who I am” and make your life into how you want it to be.”

The arrangements are fresh, ebbing and flowing through verses and choruses with musical moxie. The instrument sounds are modern, well-crafted digital simulations at times, but the energy with which variety is entertained with helpless aplomb keeps the disc raw. The combination of sounds creates a backdrop of sonic texture that raises up like braille (Inside the Bone). Morgan's steady voice is the constant, which presides over the tracks like a violin, as his phrasing mirrors the way a violin can hit a note and play it the length of the bow, drawing out the sound. It's low, deep and somehow sounds selfless- but it's entirely confident and lyrically wise. When it arrives, it settles in like a pendulum.



Matt's rich tenor voice pulls the album out of folk trenches and adds to the musicality. Melodies are hypnotic and Gregorian-chant-like at times, cresting and falling in waves. There's a reggae vibe all over “Be Good” including a fife (a small flute circa 1776). It's as if the sounds of two revolutions (Jamaica's and the Revolutionary War) come together. The Civil War theme is just part of the album, which is overall about life's struggles and wisdom gained.

In the same way that some movies are loosely based on real events, the word “transcendence” is loosely based on a real human experience that may be overshadowed by our busy lives. The term itself can be eclipsed by new-age feel-good lingo. Within the sonic adventures of these songs, like a ship with its sails set on something real, transcendence is returned to a tangible feeling.

Transcendence comes from a general sense of triumph-- sometimes subtle, and sometimes overt. Triumph in lyrics “like bells in the wind, you rise up for your song to begin…”(Last Song) and "search for my triumphant day" (For All This Time). The latter song calmly leans like the giant arm of an oak tree. Background vocals by Anita Chase (½ Mad Poet) add a full aural experience. The violin is a feat of soaring country fiddle: lush, full and never itchy. The tone is haunting and rich, like a dark wood bookcase talking.

What you'll find in this album is something that makes you feel good. Red Sihlouettes is upbeat and melancholy. The acoustic guitar, ranges from deliberate single note picking, to strumming, full of dissonance and hungry, appearing even gospel-like in its movement. You can hear in the details it's clearly a labor of love- neither quick nor drifting. The album is easy to champion as simply an “indie musician makes good” but it's more than that. Novelty in sounds keep it fresh from without while lyrical substance for the soul makes an impression within. Together, you've got unique musical integrity ripe for repeated listens.

The CD Release show will be Friday February 25, 2011 at the Jackson Junge Gallery (1389 N Milwaukee Ave.) from 8pm - 11pm. Admission is free.



Red Silhouettes is available for download on all major digital distribution websites (iTunes - Amazon - Napster - LastFM) and is available for purchase in physical format on CD Baby here: LINK

Matt's website: www.matthewmorganmusic.com

To learn more about the people, musicians and organizations that contributed to Red
Silhouettes, check out Matthew Morgan's blog: http://matthewmorganmusicart.blogspot.com

About The Name

On Axis is inspired by the Jimi Hendrix tune Axis Bold As Love.
I was astonished to read a biography about Jimi Hendrix to learn
that the man was much, much more than Foxy Lady. I read about how
he used to wait until closing time at a neighborhood hamburger
stand where his friends worked to get the extra food they would
have otherwise thrown away, poor and no different than an alley cat.
I learned how he was never even given the opportunity to see his
mother after she passed away- his own father prevented him from
attending his mother's funeral. This sadness he may have carried
around surely gives the song Angel ("Fly on..sweet angel") depth
I had not anticipated on first listen, as I am now convinced he
was singing, in a way, a lullaby to his mother's spirit.

It is this writing about Mister Hendrix that made me see both him
and his music in a new light. It gave me an appreciation for the music
and I welcomed it. However, behind it came a strange wind at the door.
It was a bittersweet recognition of the forces that water down and
simplify music into consumer soundbites where celebrity eclipses the
real life of musicians.

This is not to say I don't write hype. The music industry needs it to live,
it's like that. Trust me, I make sure everybody cleans up good. That's my job
to put the best foot forward. But on my best days, I want to bring out
the life of the musician.

I have a journalism background but realized that I don't have an interest in
reporting fires or school PTA meetings. To be a journalist you need
years and years of life experience, as well as a deep understanding of society
and its dynamics. As a guitar player and poet of sorts, I find the energy required
to understand "current events" depressing. Let's live a little. Let's make our own
reality. I want to write about it. I always learn something. I hope you do, too.

Hannah Frank
Lead Writer
On Axis Music

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On Axis Music writing is for music fans, artists, organizations and online publications. Our well-written pieces serves as bios, reviews, interviews, articles, press releases, EPKs and custom copy for promotional needs. Review samples in the links above and meet a few of our featured artists below.
Email: hannahfrankchicago@yahoo.com
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