Krissy Matthews – Live At Freak Valley

KRISSY MATTHEWS RELEASES NEW ALBUM
LIVE AT FREAK VALLEY

Krissy Matthews Band are set to embark on a UK and European tour in March and April to celebrate the release of their first live album “Live At Freak Valley”.

Released by Proper Records on Friday 14th April 2017, the live album was recorded at the Freak Valley Festival in Siegen, Germany on May 27, 2016. It really catches the adrenalin and pure excitement of the band in all their glory.

“Too many bands release “live records” but half of it is over dubbed in the studio and the f*** ups are erased,” says Matthews. “On Freak Valley you get the real deal. No overdubs.”

Continues Matthews: “I remember our Freak Valley show very well. It was the first show myself, Sam and Max did as a three piece. It was the first time I performed at a major “stoner rock” festival, and it was the first gig of our 2016 summer festival tour. We walked off stage smiling and had a fabulous time. Over the past twelve years of touring since I was 12, more and more fans have been asking me when I was going to release a live album. I knew it had to be around the corner. When I heard the recording of this show, I knew it was the one.”

The three bonus tracks on the album – Hit The Rock, Roadsick Blues and Bubbles And The Seven Phones, were recorded live from a concert Matthews performed at one of his favourite venues – Gerd’s Juke Joint in Joldelund, Germany during Spring 2016.

Originally from Oxford, Krissy’s band has often been described as an exciting, high octane, power rock trio steeped in blues roots. 24 year old Matthews has performed at some of Europe’s most iconic music venues including Ronnie Scott’s, Loreley, Tanzbrunnen and Festa Avante. He’s also opened for many high profile recording artists at the top of their game including Joe Bonamassa, Toto, Gregg Allman and Tedeschi Trucks Band.

Krissy Matthews Live // Photo Credit: © Robert Lesic

Krissy Matthews – Album Track by Track

1) Feeling For The Blues
“I wasn’t born in 1902, I didn’t pick the cotton from the fields…although my name isn’t blind boy, I got the feeling for the blues”. This is the opening line.  I wrote this when I was 14 as a f**k you to some of the blues purists out there. Some people used to come up to me (and still do), and say you can’t play the blues unless you are 70 years old and have lived through very hard times.

2) I’ve Been Searching
This is about when I first met one of my ex-girlfriends. Still in the honeymoon period, I wrote her a song. Before I met her, I didn’t want to settle down with anyone. I just wanted to be single and have fun on the road. I guess I was too young to want just one girl! But when she came along, life changed for a while for me.

3) All Night Long
I wrote it when I was 17 years old and the lyrics are about wanting to chat girls up all night long, and just live life to the full. Especially whilst you are young.

4) Searching The Desert For The Blues
When I was in pre-production for my last studio album, Scenes From A Moving Window, with my producer and co-writer Pete Brown, he said he would like me to cover a Blind Willie McTell number. He suggested I listen to this song, take it home, and make it my own. This is the live version of what I came up with.

5) Language by Injection
Quite often, I like to write about certain stories that I have been involved with whilst touring. This is one of them. A night in Poland. The lyrics explain the rest. And if I have missed anything out, it’s for good reason!

6) The Soul Will Never Die
Back when I was 13, I was lucky enough to get almost front row tickets to see Mr B.B. King in Bournemouth. I wrote to his manager, agent and concert promoter in a bid to try and meet the man, but had no luck. So I wrote a letter myself with big font, and placed it on the stage next to his chair before he hit the stage. Next thing, he read it out, invited me on stage to say hello, and then invited me backstage after for a 20 minute talk about music. What a beautiful man he was. It was a major highlight of my life that I will never forget. I wrote this song when I got home that night.

7) Bad Boy
This song is about various scenarios that could happen in life, and if being selfish at that current time makes you a bad boy or not.

8) Freedom
In 2009 and I was watched Steve Lukather live from the German TV show Ohne Filter. He played this song and I instantly fell in love with it. I didn’t know it was a Hendrix song at the time. I found that out after some research.  We then started playing it live. I gave it a break for a few years but put it back in the set in 2016 and we are continuing to play it in 2017. It’s an incredible song that’s just real fun to play.

9) Hit The Rock
November 2010, we were on tour in Norway. It was cold and icy. Unfortunately for us, we hit a patch of ice, and skidded and crashed the van into a mountain, and put it on its side. I was asleep. I remember waking up on top of my drummers head, on broken glass. Fortunately, we crashed into the mountain, and not the opposite side, as that was a steep drop to the water and would have been fateful. I named my 2011 album after this.

10) Roadsick Blues
I have an addiction to the road. I strangely love sitting in the back of the van, performing my music every night and living out of a suitcase. This for me is a song about how there is no cure for that addiction.  I will always love the road and be addicted as long as I am physically able to. It’s the drug I take to get high. Other “drugs” you can go to rehab for, and most of the time, I guess you can come out the other end sober, but I don’t think there’s an equivalent to performing live.

11) Bubbles And The Seven Phones
This is a song I wrote about my dear friend Steve who very sadly left us in 2011. He was one of the first real people in the business that believed in me. He helped a great deal with booking shows for me throughout Europe, and also tour managed a few tours. Although we had our ups and downs, as anyone does on the road, we were very close, and I loved him.

Krissy Matthews – Live At Freak Valley

Label: Proper Records
Release date: 14 April 2017

KRISSY MATTHEWS – LIVE AT FREAK VALLEY – TRACK LISTING

1. Feeling For The Blues
2. I’ve Been Searching
3. All Night Long
4. Searching The Desert For The Blues
5. Language by Injection
6. The Soul Will Never Die
7. Bad Boy
8. Freedom
9. Hit The Rock
10. Roadsick Blues
11. Bubbles And The Seven Phones

Krissy Matthews Band

Sam Weston (bass, vocals)
Max Maxwell (drums, vocals)
Krissy Matthews (guitar, vocals)

Tracks 1-8 recorded at Freak Valley Festival, Siegen, Germany on 27th May 2016.
Bonus tracks 9-11 recorded live at Gerd’s Juke Joint in Joldelund, Germany on 22nd April 2016.

Krissy Matthews Band // Photo Credit: © Robert Lesic

“Matthews writes, sings and plays guitar like a man possessed.”
– Classic Rock Magazine

“He sounds like Krissy Matthews with those licks, not a copycat.”
– Blues & Soul

“Matthews has delivered a varied and truly intoxicating take on the blues.”
– Rhythm & Booze

Krissy Matthews Online: http://www.krissymatthews.com/

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