MUSIC: SCOTT MATTHEWS ~ Chester Gig REVIEW

Scott Matthews Performance,23/04/13:
What the Night Delivered

(Above image courtesy of www.glee.co.uk)

This is the third time I have been irrestibly drawn to watch the Ivor Novello Award-winning acoustic folk artist perform live now, and I would do so a thousand times more for such an incredible talent.  Scott’s desperately beautiful songs are nothing less than bewitching: his fingers dance effortlessly over the strings and a voice floats suddenly toward you as if from a dream, holding the thronged audience of Telford’s Warehouse, Chester, in hushed awe.

What I find most striking about Scott’s performances is that if you were to close your eyes, you could be forgiven for thinking you were actually listening to hymns being sung to you by some unearthly cello and not a man, so distinctly like the sound of swelling strings is the tone of his voice.

 He is taking this tour, he explains, to get the songs out of his system and learn their personal meanings before recording them in the coming months for what will be his fourth album after Passing Stranger, Elsewhere, and What the Night Delivers.

            Afterwards, he seems genuinely humbled and grateful that people appreciate his work, and is eager to make to time to chat warmly with his fans, without rushing.

Scott’s talent puts to shame the likes of artists such as Damien Rice and recent flavour of the month Ed Sheeran, and though he has a large following and is very much a respected “musician’s musician”, quite why his household acclaim isn’t greater than it is at present is utterly baffling.  Regardless, Scott’s fourth album will hopefully be released at some point later this year, and I simply cannot wait.

To listen to Scott Matthews:
https://soundcloud.com/#scott-matthews-music

To find out more about Scott and his upcoming tour dates:
http://scottmatthewsmusic.co.uk/