Matthew McNeal
After years of relentless touring in support of the 2015 debut Compadre and 2018’s follow-up Good Luck, McNeal and longtime collaborator Andre Black returned with their third studio offering Good Grief - released to critical acclaim in 2020. The album was recorded and produced by McNeal, Black, and frequent collaborator Ted Young (Kurt Vile, The Rolling Stones) - released via the band’s own label Matte Black Sound Company.
McNeal’s fourth studio album Along For The Ride was released through a series of 45s via Matte Black Sound Company throughout 2021.
Though 2020-2021 tabled much of the touring that the group had grown accustomed to, Matthew and company have spent much of their time in the studio. This year, the band has put out Catch and Release - a single produced by Alan Day (Four Year Strong) - as well as Matthew McNeal & Andre Black, Live in Hickory Hills ‘15-’19 - a live compilation album featuring the band’s performances at Chicago’s DIY staple DZ Records.
Acting as a pillar within both the independent touring scene across the states as well as the local/regional scene through his work with Matte Black Sound Company, McNeal has stands firmly on the fact that resilience, hustle, and dedication to your craft elevates art and connects people in a meaningful way.
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Photo: Dustin McLaughlin // Twelve Midnight
'GOOD GRIEF' LP - RELEASED 4/3/20
After striving to bring analog sounds and high-caliber songwriting into the modern era with 2018’s release of Good Luck, Matthew and long-time drummer and songwriting counterpart Andre Black spent the following years continuing to tour and record constantly, despite a whirlwind of chaos that fell upon McNeal. With the loss of a parent, a house fire, a near-fatal car wreck, in the midst of planning a wedding with his now-wife, there was no absence of inspiration and direction. Once again teaming up with Grammy award-winning Ted Young, the gang recorded most of the nine song LP at their own studio in Fort Worth - made possible by decades of gear collecting while touring. The collection of work presents a youthful take on analog production, blurring the lines between genre with inventive musicality and lyricism with a sense of clarity.
During the record's 35-minute runtime, a listener is due to experience the edge that alternative music carries, the unbound emotion of soul, and the spirit of thoughtful indie rock. Good Grief will be released on April 3, 2020 through McNeal's own Matte Black Sound Company.
“These songs helped me get through some difficult times, and I think there’s an almost spiritual feeling when you share personal stories as songs,” McNeal says. “I believe that any song that effectively transports you into the songwriter’s world shares a common thread, regardless of genre.”
“I wanted this album to have a vibe that sounded intentional, but still free. You can hear the songs on ‘Good Grief’ in a lot of different ways - as country songs, folk songs, rock songs, soul songs - it all really depends on the listener. So that’s what we aimed for - blending all of the things we love, doing it in our own way, always intentional but always free.”
OTHER RELEASES FROM MATTHEW McNEAL
Bio
Upon the release of band’s 2015 debut studio album COMPADRE, both Matthew McNeal and constant collaborator Andre Black have toured the country ten times over, attracting fans by word of mouth and playing over 100 tour dates each year.
After going out into the Texas Hill Country to record 2018’s sophomore effort GOOD LUCK at Israel Nash’s Plum Creek Sound studio, the indie-folk rocker hit his stride, pushing the band forward by looking to the past. McNeal and Black started their own record label Matte Black Sound Company, which now acts as a pillar for the independent music scene in Fort Worth, Texas and beyond. GOOD LUCK album gained traction across the US and Europe, with songs ‘Rumorosa’ and ‘Run’ hitting radio waves across the country while McNeal constantly toured, playing shows with indie hitmakers like Durand Jones and the Indications, Charley Crockett, Rayland Baxter, and Dylan LeBlanc.
After a tumultuous year of sudden deaths, a house fire, a wedding, and identity theft, McNeal followed up with GOOD GRIEF, a long-playing soundtrack of love and loss, arriving within the first month of 2020’s quarantine. The album shone light on McNeal’s genre-bending style as well as his focus on high-fidelity, forward-reaching production. Despite a year of canceled tour dates, the band caught the attention of Rolling Stone Magazine, American Songwriter, and NPR-affiliate stations thanks to the album’s lead single ‘All For Nothing’ - a song that rang more and more true as the year progressed.
As a year of unknowns ravaged the industry, Matthew and Matte Black Sound found ways to pivot, creating with a heightened sense of intention and a shift in perspective. McNeal and Black built out their own studio and tapped collaborator, engineer/producer, and friend Ted Young (Kurt Vile, The Rolling Stones, Taking Back Sunday) to make music with more ferocity and frequency than ever. The band’s fourth album Along For The Ride was released in December of 2021.
