the mattcoughlin band

The mood was set after I was seated near the front of the stage at the Reef (Boise, ID) last Thursday night. The seamless songs and mellow music of Matt Coughlin complimented the bamboo ceiling hanging over the stage.
Coughlin is on his first official music tour, “The rainy daze of winter,� and has already recorded two albums: “Let it go� in 2005 and his newest release, ‘‘It’s about time� in 2006.
Coughlin is just 26 years of age. His thick beard was only a mask for his smooth, laid back voice. Coughlin stood between two angry-faced totem poles standing in the background with his western-style acoustic guitar and sandals kicked off his feet.
His far-reaching notes explored the boundaries of each song and lost themselves in rich meaning. With my hands clapping and my feet tapping I realized I’d been sucked into the melody of this music and the mood of the dimly-lit restaurant.
Matt Coughlin’s inspirational genres of music include everything from classical to jazz and rock ‘n’ roll to folk rock.
His favorite artists include Simon and Garfunkel, Led Zepplin, Storyhill, Martin Sexton and the Counting Crows. The style that Coughlin feels the most comfortable performing is folk rock. This style allows him to do a bit of storytelling in each song while adding some soul.
The harmonic sounds of his buddy, Bryan Hinschberger, also the manager and CD seller, reminded me of the protest songs of the 1960s. Bryan’s deep tone quality lent itself to stylistic expression to round out Matt’s higher range.
The music and the lyrics combined to make a complete package of insightful sounds in the passionate, three-set program. The most unique part of Coughlin collection of vocal arrangements occurred when his melodic whistle unobtrusively fell upon the ears of his audience.
Coughlin and Hinschberger became serious about music during junior high school. They met in an acapella men’s group just a few years ago in college.
The songs performed Thursday had many common themes which play on movie soundtracks, such as self-discovery, rain, tears of joy, sadness, anger and love.
Coughlin hopes his music will be recognized by a bigger audience, which would allow him to be sustained entirely by CD sales and live performances. - Steve Ahlborn - Arbiter Online Boise St. University

Brad Petrovich (The Dirty Thieves) shows his paintings alongside his son’s and uncle’s for a three-generation art show through Aug. 28 at Embellish Salon & Gallery du Jour. There will be an artist reception 6-9 p.m. tonight with Matt Coughlin Band performing. In little over a year, Coughlin has moved up in the world of local entertainment, garnering solo opening spots for blues, jazz and rock nationals. He’s gathered a group of talented musicians, enhancing and compounding his already compelling pop/ Americana/rock sound. Coughlin has a good voice and writes one hell of a song. Keep your eyes on him and go see his unplugged performance with friends sitting in. 6-9 p.m., free, Embellish Salon & Gallery du Jour, 454 St. Helens Ave., downtown Tacoma, (253) 752-8144. - Jennifer Johnson, Tacoma Weekly Volcano

The Matt Coughlin Band charmed the heck out of the audience at the Glass Roots Arts Festival last Saturday. I overheard several people praising the band while they played amidst Tacoma’s glitterati and artists du jour. A live recording of all of the bands who performed that day will be available soon, but until then, I snatched a copy of Coughlin’s let it go to tide me over.
I dig not only Coughlin’s clear and precise vocals but also his inclusion of the stand-up bass. I love those deep plunking tones — so sexy. Upon further inspection of the green sleeved CD cover, I was intrigued to discover that Montana transplant Coughlin recorded at the Tacoma School of the Arts. (It’s cool that the youth of Tacoma have a place like that to express themselves.) At home, I threw Coughlin in the CD player and plugged in the headphones. But the age-old question was could the recordings live up to the magic of the live performance? I’m happy to report the answer is yes.
Right off the bat Coughlin’s tight harmonies and impassioned vocals delivered on track one, “Thinking Tree.” In fact, it had me smiling and nodding. Tacoma has yet another fresh young talent to brag about. On track two Coughlin tells off some unnamed person so gracefully in his own unique folk/rock way that the said “superficial little punk” must have felt honored.
I never like genre labeling, and in Coughlin’s case, it would be really tough to do anyway. His songs have rock worthy electric guitar licks, such as on the bridge of track one; moments of twangy country/rock as in track three, “54”; bluesy riffs like the intro to the title track; and an acoustic folky ballad style on the final track, “Lay Me Down.” It’s not that the music is so varied that each song should have its own genre; it’s just that the way he blends his influences together makes it something indefinable, and in my opinion that is what sets an artist apart from an imitator. Coughlin is an artist to watch, and if you don’t believe me, maybe you’d be interested to know that Marty Campbell of Buzzard’s CDs saw me leaving with the CD in my hand and stopped me to give his stamp of approval as well.
Catch Coughlin with Dean Bliss Sept. 11 at Seattle’s Nectar Lounge. You can locate his CD, show information and more at www.mattcoughlin.com. - Angela Jossy