Matt York on PBS's Ocean State Sessions 2023

SPRING UPDATE  

Hi folks,

Happy April! Life becomes busy again over here in music land. I had a number of great concerts in March and am looking forward to putting a bunch of miles on my car, which currently has a whopping 227K miles on it, in the months ahead.

I'm doing a lot of concerts about the relationship and partnership between Bob Dylan and Cash. I'm loving doing these concerts and we've had some really great turnouts for the ones I've done so far. I'm also doing a bunch of Willie, Cash and Highwaymen concerts. I don't have any bar/club gigs in April, however, I'll be at libraries all over the place in April/early May. They are listed below. I'm also at a bunch of COAs as well. I don't list those because sometimes they have limited space, but if you'd seen me at one and are curious 

Since it's Easter Weekend, here's an old gospel song that I recorded while sipping my morning coffee last weekend. I did not have my hair stylist available that early in the morning, so I'm au naturale (I have really bad bedhead : ) Click below to watch the video 

I'm booking a ton of summer dates lately, so if you're interested in booking me for a concert (I do lots of private concerts if you're having a summer cookout that could use entertainment), email me or reach out to me at 781-953-6177.

Upcoming Concerts:

​Tuesday, April 7 @ 6:30 PM
Cash and Dylan Songs and Stories
Townsend Library, Townsend, MA

Tuesday, April 14 @ 6:30 PM
Johnny Cash - Songs and Stories
Tewksbury Public Library, Tewksbury, MA

Wednesday, April 15 @ 6:30 PM
Johnny Cash - Songs and Stories
Auburn Library, Auburn, MA

Wednesday, April 29 @ 6:00 PM
Willie Nelson Songs and Stories
Greenville Public Library, Greenville, Rhode Island

Thursday, April 30 @ 6:30 PM
Dylan/Cash - Songs and Stories
Ashby Free Public Library, Ashby, MA

Saturday, May 2 @ 2:00 PM
Dylan/Cash - Songs and Stories
Mattapoisett Library, Mattapoissett, MA

Tuesday, May 5 @ 6:00 PM
Willie Nelson - Songs and Stories
Taunton Library, Taunton

Thursday, May 7 @ 6:00 PM
​Dylan/Cash - Songs and Stories
Hanson Library, Hanson, MA

Saturday, May 9 @ 12:00​ PM
The Highwaymen Songs and Stories
Dennis Public Library, Dennis, MA

Tuesday, May 12th @ 7 PM
​Billerica Library
​Dylan/Cash - Songs and Stories

Sunday, May 17 @ 2:00​ PM
Willie Nelson - Songs and Stories
First Parish Church of Kingston, Kingston, MA

Wednesday, May 20 @ 7:00​ PM
Dylan/Cash - Songs and Stories
Milford Library, Milford, MA
 

WINTER UPDATE:

Hi folks,

Hope you're all surviving the bitter winter we've been having here in Massachusetts. I'm certainly looking forward to better weather.

So…..a lot going on over here. This month, I'm playing concerts at libraries in Townsend, Worcester, Wilmington and Mattapoisett. All of those concerts are free and there are more details on each at the bottom of this email. I'm also playing at The Parlour in Providence, RI, a great small indie rock club, opening for the terrific Lenny Lashey. More info on all that stuff below or www.mattyorkmusic.com. 

I wanted to spend some time talking about the album I'm making this month in Mississippi. Hope you'll take a minute to read it. 

So here's a fun story. It's a little long,  but here we go. Two weeks from now, I'll be recording an album of songs at a really great studio (Dialback Sound) in Water Valley, Mississippi. I've never stepped foot in MS before. Matt Patton, bassist of the Drive-By Truckers/Dexateens will be producing the record. I've admired Matt's music for twenty years and he's owned this studio for a long time. 

Three years ago, I celebrated my 51st birthday alone in a sketchy Motel 6 on the outskirts of Nashville. I was performing the songs of the Highwaymen at City Winery solo. It was a big opportunity for me and I was nervous that I'd be playing to a empty room. To help promote it, I got to go on the NBC TV Morning Show “Today in Nashville” and perform two songs and talk about the gig (fun fact: the comedienne Leanne Morgan, was also a guest on that episode). The day before the concert, I received an email from the local NBC affiliate saying I couldn't perform songs by the Highwaymen, unless I had written permission, which I did not. That was a kinda massive plot twist, but I remembered that if a song is over a hundred years old, it goes into the public domain and anyone can then use that song. I performed the 1908 song/hymn “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” (really, I did, you can watch it at this link) which was initially made famous by the Carter Family in the 1930's. Both Cash and Willie also did wonderful versions of it. Cash made five gospel records and Willie has made three. I went down this rabbit hole of listening to those records at the time and then discovered other records by folks like Vestal Goodman/The Happy Goodmans, Merle Haggard and so many more. 

A year later, I was playing some of these songs during my concerts and decided to try and find a place to hear Gospel music on Sundays. I walked into the Fourth Presbyterian Church on Dorchester Ave in South Boston in the spring of 2024 after Googling “places there are good music at churches nearby”. The pastor there, Burns Stanfield, has been preaching in Southie for over thirty years. He's also been a professor at the Harvard Divinity School all those years. Prior to that, he played (along w/ his brother) in the great, great Boston band, Scruffy the Cat in the late 1980's. He's a master musician and I've ended up showing up every Sunday since then. I perform regularly at church and I've shared some clips of those in previous newsletters. 

In Mississippi, Pastor Burns, my girlfriend Angel (playing fiddle) and I will record an album of these old southern gospel songs. My hope is to release this as an album on vinyl later this year. I think it's going to be pretty awesome, so I'll have more updates on that once we get back. I regularly play songs like “Keep on the Sunny Side of Life” or “I Saw the Light” at churches, rock clubs and small theaters and it really doesn't matter who the audience is, people love hearing those songs. They are timeless and powerful and we're planning on recording 10-12 of them. My lifelong friend Rick Berlin attended a rehearsal we did at the church and filmed this four-minute video. This song, "God Walks the Dark Hills" will be one of the songs we record. I hope you enjoy it. 

 If you wanna buy the Willie book it's up on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble's websites. If you liked that long rambling story I just told, it's a bunch of those : ) GIG INFO BELOW!!!!!

Peace!
Matt

February 10th (Tues.) - Townsend Public Library 6:30 PM - Making up a concert that was rescheduled due to the recent storm. I'll be talking about the relationship between Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan and playing some of the songs they collaborated on through the years. I'll also delve into Dylan's album Nashville Skyline that he recorded (with Cash contributing) in 1969. For more info visit this link. 

Feb. 22nd (Sun.) Worcester Library 1 PM - Another concert doing the songs of Cash and Dylan. More info at this link. 

Feb. 26th (Thurs.) Wilmington Library 7 PM,  Highwaymen  - First time in Wilmington and I'll be doing the songs of the great Highwaymen, as part of their Coffeehouse Concert Series. More details at this link. 

February 28th (Sat.) Mattapoisett Library at 2 PM - Doing the songs of Cash/Dylan. More info at this link.  

February 28th (Saturday) The Parlour in Providence. Rhode Island at 8 PM - After a month of playing libraries and senior centers, I'll be opening for one of New England's finest punk rockers/honky-tonkers ever, the great Lenny Lashley (Darkbuster, Lenny and the Piss Poor Boys, Gang of One). I'll have Angel on fiddle for this one. I first played a gig with Lenny over 25 years ago, so it'll be fun to stay up late. He's been my favorite Boston songwriter for many years. Tickets are $20. More info at this link. 

DECEMBER, 2025 UPDATE:

Happy Holidays folks,

A few quick updates for you.

I had a great time in Nashville playing at Vinyl Tap. Also got to see some really great live music including concerts by Jonny Fritz, Joshua Hedley, Kyle Tuttle and Sweet Megg. I play concerts all the time to older folks who talk about how they love classic country music and can't stand modern country music. I'm also no fan of commercial country music, but I can say unequivocally that there's a lot of really amazing country music out there by young artists. They aren't playing to packed rooms, they aren't playing Gillette Stadium, but they are out there and finding an audience and it was great to see a lot of that music while we were down there.  

I had the opportunity to perform with my lifelong friend Rick Berlin at the Burren in Davis Square in Somerville as part of a concert that was curated by the Boston Globe's James Sullivan called “Who's Side Are You On?”. Rick and I first performed together when I was a freshman in high school and he recently turned eighty years old and is the definition of a Boston music legend, so it was a lot of fun to accompany him on this song with a great backing band. You can watch it at this link.

I'm going to be traveling across Texas (Austin to El Paso) in late January/early February doing a combination of library concerts and bar gigs talking about the Willie book and playing some old honky-tonk music. If you know any Texans that might be interested, please let them know.

I don't have a lot of concerts open to the public in December (although I'm extremely busy doing Xmas concerts). Angelica and I will be returning to First Night Chatham doing the songs of Cash and Willie. We're playing two afternoon concerts in the downtown area. More info and advanced tickets can be found at www.firstnightchatham.com. The concerts listed below are Holiday concerts that I'll be performing that are open to the public. All four concerts are free. Here's an old holiday song “Pretty Paper” that was made famous by Roy Orbison and written by a young fella named Willie Nelson about 65 years ago. It's such a pretty song. I hope you enjoy it. 

Dec. 4th (Thurs.) Westborough Library

Dec. 5th (Fri.) Bourne Library 4:30 PM

Dec. 6th (Sat.) Fitchburg library at 6 PM

Dec. 13th (Sat.) 11 AM Townsend Library

If you're looking for a stocking stuffer or Christmas gift, my books on Willie and also the Highwaymen are available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble's websites.  

Lots of good stuff coming up in 2026. Thanks for all your support. It's been an incredible year musically and I'm very grateful to get to do this thing I do.

If you want to follow me on Facebook, you can do so at this link. 

I hope you all have a terrific Turkey Day!

Matt

NOVEMBER, 2025 UPDATE

Hi folks,

Just a quick update. I've had some great concerts in October including a couple of harvest festivals and I'm guessing I've probably played my final outdoor gigs of 2025.

I'll be playing at Vinyl Nap in East Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday, November 9th from 4 PM to 6 PM. You can learn more at www.vinaltapnashville.com. This concert is free and I'll be talking about the Willie book, singing his songs and signing copies of the book. I'll have Angelica joining me on fiddle. If you're down in that area or know somebody that is/will be, please let them know. You'd be hard-pressed to find a cooler spot to see music than Vinyl Tap. I haven't played in Nashville in two years. I've had some of the greatest and some of the worst concerts of my musical life in that city. It's always fun to be there though and I'm always grateful that someone down there is willing to take a chance on booking me.

November is a slow month for me. I'll be at First Church in Pembroke, MA on Sunday, November 16th at 3:30 PM for a free concert doing the classic country music Revue. It's a free concert, it has great acoustics and I'll also have Angelica on fiddle w/ me at that one. Also I'll be doing some gigs in Newport at the Newport Playhouse's kitchen they just opened. You can find more info on that at https://www.newportplayhouse.com/

I'll be turning into Christmas song singing guy for all of December and then will be doing the songs of Cash and Willie as part of First Night Chatham. More info on that at https://www.firstnightchatham.com/

This month's video is a cover of the John Lennon song “Jealous Guy”, which you can check out at https://youtu.be/yCP94O2PppY?si=fBbktWCBuW8crbW0

If you're interested in a copy of the Willie book, it's on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles' websites (find them at this link). My four-sentence pitch of why you should absolutely purchase several copies of the book as Christmas gifts. Since Betty White passed away, the only thing we can agree on on this planet is that we love all Dolly Parton and we all love Willie Nelson. The book is priced to move at $20-$25 and it's the perfect Yankee Swap gift. It's not a bio, it's short little nuggets I've picked up doing this thing I do about both Willie and Massachusetts. You have a great opportunity to be the cool person at your holiday party this December. The choice is yours : )

That's all I got for you! Thanks for all your support. If you any questions, want to book me or whatever, please email me at mattyorkpembroke@gmail.com.

October, 8th, 2025

Hi folks,

Just my periodic check-on on all things music. September was a wonderful month of music that included a terrific sold-out concert at the Marion Art Center, a few harvest fests and a whole bunch of other concerts.

I do a lot more private concerts as the weather changes, but I do have some upcoming concerts I wanted to make you aware of.

I'm doing a series of Thursday concerts down in Newport, Rhode Island at the Newport Playhouse beginning this Thursday, October 9th from 5:30 to 9:00. They have great food there. I'll be there most Thursdays in October and early November. Check out my gigs page, for more info at https://mattyorksongsandstories.com/shows. Their website is https://www.newportplayhouse.com/

On Tuesday, October 14th, I'll be at the Winthrop Library and Museum at 6:30 PM. I'll also be out by Amherst performing at the Pelham Library on October, 25th at 11 AM. All info on those shows can be found at https://mattyorksongsandstories.com/shows. Further down the road, First Church in Pembroke MA on Sunday, November 16th and for my Cape friends, I'll be returning to First Night Chatham for the third consecutive year on 12/31.

I'm heading to Nashville to play one of the really great venues down there, Vinyl Tap on Sunday, November 9th. Vinyl Tap is located in East Nashville and is a bar, a live music venue and a record store all in one. Pretty cool. More info available at https://www.vinyltapnashville.com/

A video I recorded of the “new” Waylon Jennings' song “Songbird” has been watched over five thousand times since I recorded it a few weeks back on YouTube. That's a lot for me, so figured I'd share it with you (I may have already done this, I forget : )  

I'll be picking up a few guitar and/or vocal students (online unless you live on the South Shore), so if you've ever wanted to try and learn guitar or improve your playing/singing etc., please reach out at mattyorkpembroke@gmail.com or call/text me at 781-953-6177 and I can give more info.

With the holidays coming up, a few things I offer that may be of interest to some of you, my books on Willie and the Highwaymen are both available for purchase on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles' websites. You can find those links at www.mattyorksongsandstories.com. Last year, I had a few people to ask me to record versions of a specific either as a video or an an audio track. That was a lot of fun. If you have a song you'd love to hear me sing for someone special in your life, let me know. I'll also be offering private house concerts. If any of that is of interest,  please reach out at mattyorkpembroke@gmail.com or call/text me at 781-953-6177 and I can give more info.

Over the winter of 2024/2025, I recorded two albums. One of the them celebrates some of my favorite honky tonk and classic country songs from the 1950s - 1970's. The second album is a collection of  old southern gospel songs. I'm really proud of how they came out.  The albums are available on all streaming services and you can also listen to them for free at www.mattyorkboston.bandcamp.com. Also, be sure to check out a new video for one of the songs at the link below. The video was produced by my lifelong friend Rick Berlin and is a cover of the Whitey Shafer classic “Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind”.