Blue Comet Cafe Presents: Matt Duke

Blue Comet Café is a virtual showcase club for on-the-verge touring and recording artists. We videotape live performances (4 cameras/multitrack audio) of bands and singer/songwriters that are ready to step forward and achieve the recognition they deserve. No lip-synching. No overdubs. Just great people playing live.

We created the site to provide a way for people to check out new bands they might not be aware of and, if they like what they see, get them to go to the bands site or go to a gig. Artists featured on our Main Stage play the best traditional venues in the U.S., if not the world and they deserve the world's attention.

Currently featured on our Main Stage is a distinctive singer/songwriter, Matt Duke. Matt made his recording debut in 2005 when MAD Dragon Records recorded four of his songs for inclusion on XYX, a compilation of twelve tracks from three artists.

When XM Satellite Radio's "The Loft" (Channel 50) added all four of Duke's songs from XYX, to their rotation, they received an immediate enthusiastic response. His songs were among the most requested at The Loft, joining Bruce Springsteen and Ben Harper for six weeks at the top spot.

In late 2005, Matt entered the studio to record his debut LP, 'Winter Child'. Produced by veteran producers Stewart Lerman and Steuart Smith, it's an intriguing, colorful and thought-provoking record.

Matt has just released his second CD, 'Kingdom Underground', on Rykodisc.

A biographer described his work this way:

"Duke's acoustic playing is often full of abrupt stops and starts, unexpected changes of direction, complex rhythms that come off more like jazz than folk or rock, challenging the limits of his acoustic instrument. His voice can be quietly confessional at first, then escalate to an impassioned wail, as startlingly intense by the end of a song, as it was gently intimate at the start. In a world of heart-on-their-sleeve singer-songwriters, Duke pushes past the conventions of the genre, combining elements of jazz, folk and pop, even grunge and progressive rock, with unbridled emotion to create a sound very much his own."

Matt, who grew up listening to the likes of Van Morrison, The Band, Pearl Jam, Ani DiFranco, Ben Harper, Tool and Damien Rice, works to combine pop melodies with intense lyrical messages. His songs deal with life and death, philosophy and the occasional relationship gone bad. They run the gamut from tender ballads to flat-out rockers as he tries to avoid the standard love song/breakup song trap so prevalent in pop music.

"Love songs", he says, "I put those aside. I hear them on the radio so often. Writing about love and breakups is almost tired". Instead, he writes songs about the self-medicating properties of the internet, spiritual and emotional unrest, and the struggle "to figure out what you believe in and what you don't."

Blue Comet Café is proud to present an original voice like Matt Duke.

Matt Duke on amazon.com

Matt Duke Official Website

Blue Comet Cafe Official Website

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