On the road again with Chris Matthews

With an average of 200-250 shows per year, covering a whopping 80,000 km's, this travelling nomad knows a thing or two about life on the road.

Chris Matthews always has a smile on his face and an upbeat outlook on life. “I’m the fella from Kununurra, singing up my country” he laughs.

Never before has a positive attitude been more important than amid the current pandemic which has seen the complete loss of shows for this musical gypsy, not to mention the entire live music industry.

Hailing approximately 37 Kilometres from the Northern Territory border, this Kimberley man started his musical career at 18. His first gig was given to him through mentor Brian Ward, former president of the Australian Songwriters Association. Matthews remembers fondly advice given to him from Ward, “don’t go to the industry, just be your own". "For some reason that always stuck with me so that’s one thing I always say, you’ve gotta run your own race”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufMLfD14pq4

Lyric video for Little bit long way from the new album.

Vid credit Ben Broady - Timelapse of the Kimberely

And run his own race is exactly what Matthews is doing. "I’ve been on the road for 17 years, I love it, and that’s the only reason to do it. I don’t do it to prove a point or to say look at me, look at what I’m doing. If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t do it”. We love your dedication Chris! So what does the COVID -19 pandemic mean for artists like Chris Matthews? We checked in with him earlier today to see how he was going and this is what he had to say: "Well, I did have to cancel 47 dates of my album launch tour, which I was just about to announce before all gigs got cancelled, but my situation is nothing special - everyone is in the same boat at the moment! And I'm one of those annoying glass half full type people, and I look for the positive in everything, so I'm currently viewing this time as a bit of a holiday from my eternal touring schedule and using it to record a bunch of new songs I've written - which I'm doing at home (which is a real challenge with the limited gear I have!) and I'm loving the learning process!! If you ain't learning, you ain't living, so I'm loving it!!" Did we not mention he's ever the optimist!

In our podcast episode with Chris (you can find it here) we talked about his new album, A little bit long way, released with his "mob of scoundrels" (iTunes link here). “As an independent artist, I can do whatever I want (there's) no one telling me what songs to record, it’s a beautiful journey” enthuses Matthews. You can see how invested he is in these new songs,“I wanted it to be an album that i could look back on in 20-30 years time”. When asked what his favourite of his creations was, Chris turned serious to talk about his late father. “The third track on the album, Yes Man is my personal favourite” he says, It's about his relationship with his father and the "typical Aussie bloke" mentality he felt all men were subject to adhere to. You can check out Yes Man on Spotify here. So what's next for the avid traveller? “I have no end game in sight, I just love playing music and traveling Australia and the world. I just want to be the best version of me that I can.” We think you're doing a pretty good job Chrisso! Thanks for sitting down with us at The Country Music Podcast. If you liked this article, why not leave us a comment or give us a share! Sharing is caring :)

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