Scott Matthews

We will continue our hommage to 21st century gay artists with two men who are both great musicians and who practically have the same name. One is from England and one is from Australia. Today, it's the English guy's turn. His name is Scott Matthews.

Born in 1976 in Wolverhampton, Scott started playing guitar when he was seven and went electric aged 11. After leaving High School Scott continued to practise his guitar, and played in bands in and around Wolverhampton. He was listening to a lot of Jimi Hendrix. Other influences include The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, Marc Bolan, and Joe Satriani. Although when it comes to his singing, it sounds a lot like Nick Drake, with a touch of John Martyn.

He worked in a warehouse, shifting boxes, and completed a graphic design course at Stourbridge Art College. From there he went onto perform music for Zip Theatre in Wolverhampton and put on music workshops in schools. He began to concentrate on writing his own songs in 2002. These songs became Passing Stranger, a demo CD, of which Scott pressed 20 copies.

Matthews signed his first record deal with San Remo, a newly formed independent record label. In the summer of 2005 Scott went into the studio to turn the demo CD into a professionally produced recording. The album, which kept the title Passing Stranger, was released on 13 March 2006.

Scott was beginning to get noticed. The major record labels sent representatives to his gig at London’s 12 Bar Club in April 2006. Scott eventually signed with Island Records, which decided to re-release Passing Stranger, convinced that its national and international potential had not been tapped. They began to promote Elusive, the first single from the album. Here it is:

The album became a minor hit (#45 UK) and the single as well (#56 UK). More importantly, in May 2007, he won the Ivor Novello Award for "Best Song Musically and Lyrically" for Elusive. The Ivors, as they are called, are considered among the most prestigious awards in British music. Past winners include Barry Gibb, David Bowie, Lou Reed, Mick Jagger & Keith Richards and John Lennon.

Next single Dream Song was also a minor hit in the UK (#78):

Here he is with the album's title track, which was his third single:

Finally from this album, here's a beautiful song called Eyes Wider Than Before:

Scott spent a lot of time touring: his gigs included supporting the Foo Fighters at their two UK acoustic shows. Apart from playing his own songs in concerts, he would also cover songs that he liked. Here's a beautiful version of Bob Marley's Is This Love?

Scott's second album, Elsewhere, was released in 2009. Here's the title track:

And here's a stunning song called 12 Harps. Sharing vocal duties is one of the most famous sons of the wider area, Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant.

Matthews' third album, What The Night Delivers, came out in 2011. The opening track was another gem, called Myself Again:

First single was exquisite Ballerina Lake:

Followed by the equally outstanding Obsession Never Sleeps:

Another gem is the Piano Song:

In an interview to Logan Lynn for Huffington Post in 2012, Scott was asked questions concerning Gay Pride. Here are the questions and his answers:

1. Q. If you could sum up in one word what it means for you to have queer pride, what would it be?

A. Love.

2. Q. How will you celebrate pride this year?

A. I performed at the first Queer Music Festival in N.Y.C. at Rock Bar. I also am going to the parade with my friends.

3. Q. Would you ever be in a relationship with someone who was still in the closet and planned on remaining that way?

A. I think the reasons people stay in the closet sometimes can be totally legitimate. That issue is very circumstantial, and we need to be careful not to judge too quickly. We still live in a world where there is huge discrimination in parts from religious and cultural sectors. I would need to understand the whole story of why they remain in the closet before I made a decision.

4. Q. In thinking about your own experience with relationships and just what exactly we are celebrating this Pride Month, please tell us about the first time in your life when you felt proud of who you are and of your queer love.

A. When I first came out to my friends (not my family) and there was love and support, what was an issue that had plagued my soul was suddenly a non-issue to them. It took my family many years past that to accept it. Thankfully now they also are loving and supportive.

5. Q. If that personal pride experience were adapted into a film, what song would be the soundtrack to that scene?

A. This Charming Man by The Smiths.

Here he is covering another song by The Smiths, The Boy with the Thorn in His Side:

Home Part 1 (2014) is the 4th studio release from Matthews. The album is the first to be recorded entirely in his home studio. It was as good as the previous ones. Here's opening song Virginia as proof:

Sunlight is another great track:

86 Floors From Heaven is a moving song:

Here he is in a live version of Mona:

The album's closing track is Let's Get You Home:

Right now, Scott is about to release Home Part 2 in September. In fact, you can pre-order it via Pledge Music. The song Where I Long To Be has already been heard in Tom Robinson's Show on BBC Radio 6. (Remember him? One of our first presentations and a favorite of mine). Since I didn't find the song on youTube, here's the link to the whole radio show (this song appears around 17 minutes into the show).

Where I Long To Be

His latest single, The Lantern Flower, is also not found on youTube. Here's the link to the radio show After Midnight With Janice Long on BBC Radio 2. The song appears around 35 minutes into the show.

The Lantern Flower