Matt Zeltzer

Portland, OR based songwriter Matt Zeltzer has been traveling backwards for as long as he can remember. “ I grew up listening to The Beatles, Buddy Holly, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Bob Marley out of the tape deck in my parents Camry wagon.” Eventually, his interests led him to the blues, and later folk music, from Buddy Guy, Howling Wolf, and the Band, and back to the likes of Son House, John Lee Hooker, and Lightnin’ Hopkins. Zeltzer has been playing music for nearly his entire life- after fiddling with the family piano and a guitar he received “around age four”, he began taking piano lessons at age eight, shifting his focus to guitar at thirteen.

In the age of throwaway college degrees and text messaging, it is rare to find a young, well-developed artist such as Zeltzer. Already, at the age of 21, Zeltzer has released an EP, two demo CDs, played guitar on The Flying H’s EP “Shake It Out Loud,” and performed at numerous festivals, such as “One Family Gathering,” venues, benefit concerts, house shows up and down the west coast and in Hawaii—
All within the past two years.

Zeltzer’s music is a swirling mixture of fierce, bone-shaking slide guitar and subtle fingerpicked folk, with funk and R&B innuendo. The stirring texture of his guitar is tied with highly poetic lyrics and a soulful, seemingly timeless voice: reminiscent of an earlier generation of folk music, yet standing alone as a unique and contemporary expression. While Matt's technical talent is bordering on masterful, it is not only the rolling mantra of his guitar or the uncanny maturity of the lyrics that draw in his audience… but the intense energy and vibrancy he brings to the stage, the sheer momentum and the unusual honesty of his songs, that transforms Matt's music into compelling and profound art. As writer Craig Stroud mentions, it's as though Matt has "stolen a corner of your own soul and you find yourself constantly nodding 'yes, I understand oh so well'". It's this sensitivity and intelligence that elevates Matt's music to a level of widespread resonance.

After years of struggling to find his step, all while being too shy to bring his talents into the public eye, Zeltzer has finally released Scrapwood Balladry, his first EP, with the help of renegade producer/multi instrumentalist Dan Pisarcik, and pianist Tom Morrison. Scrapwood Balladry recalls introverted moments a la Neil Young’s Harvest, as well as the spirits of rock and roll, in “The Tombstone Shake,” with forays into the blues (“Left Til Dust”), while crowd favorite, “Different Ways” is a traveling funk- ballad.

With so many artists racing to the top and burning out, look for something else in Zeltzer-a young man who has been making music his whole life, constantly looking for the next song, with no intention of stopping anytime soon.